War and Peace - National Youth Choir (15-18 Years)

• This event takes place at Victoria Rooms, Bristol. View on Google Maps
• The concert starts at 3.30pm, and is due to finish at approximately 4.45pm

Borogoditse Devo - Sergei Rachmaninoff (3 mins)
This song is a small part of a longer work called the 'All-Night Vigil'. You might be able to guess that this music was created to be sung at night! Specifically, the words are from a Russian Orthadox service that starts around sunset on the day before big celebrations. The words of this specific song are a simple prayer, a Russian version of 'Hail Mary' or 'Ave Maria'.

Lighten Our Darkness - Alexander L’Estrange (2 mins)
This song is another short prayer, set to music. If you've ever been to or sung in an Evensong service, you might recognise the words, which ask for protection in times of darkness and danger.

To a Skylark - Kristina Arakelyan (3 mins)
Can you hear the skylark hovering and dancing in the air? In this song, the singers move from fleeting, echoed melodies, to a chant-like chorus sung all together. The lyrics are from a poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley, where he yearns after the joy and freedom of a skylark.

And the swallow - Caroline Shaw (4 mins)
Caroline wrote this song in 2017 as a response to the Syrian refugee crisis, saying "there's a yearning for home that feels very relevant today". The words of this piece speak to the human need for both somewhere safe to live and a spiritual home. Listen out for the sounds of refreshing autumn rain providing comfort in a barren landscape towards the end of the piece.

Do Not Neglect - Kim André Arnesen (3 mins)
Like 'And the swallow', the lyrics for this song are from the Bible: ‘Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it’. Listen out for the ways Kim stretches this short sentence, building up to a climax on the word 'angels'.

Farewell to Arms - Richard Rodney Bennett (6 mins)
Written in 2001, this piece is a rich and darkly twisted meditation on the aftermath of war. The words are full of scenes of the imagined peace after conflict, like a discarded helmet which has sat still on the ground for so long that bees have made their hive in it.

Hear My Prayer - Moses Hogan (2 mins)
A reverent prayer of hope from the modern master of African American spirituals, Moses Hogan. The lyrics speak of the dream of eternal peace after the hard work on earth has been done, ‘When my work on earth is done, and you come to take me home. Just to know I'm bound for glory. And to hear you say well done.’

Deep River - Michael Tippett (4 mins)
Another American spiritual next, originally arranged and published by Henry Burleigh in 1916 and then reworked for choir and orchestra by Michael Tippett for his 1941 oratorio, 'A Child of Our Time'. The work was written during the start of the Second World War, responding to the violence directed towards the Jewish population. Tippett used the universality of the spirituals to punctuate the oratorio; their powerful emotional impact resonating with repressed peoples everywhere. Deep River concludes the whole work, an expression of hope, the light at the end of the tunnel.

Curse upon Iron - Veljo Tormis (9 mins)
Estonian Veljo Tormis, wrote Curse upon Iron in 1972 as a shamanistic incantation against the power of evil. The piece starts with the origin story of iron as told by ancient Finnish mythological texts. Can you hear the lowest voices in the choir imitating the bendy sound of a mouth harp? Towards the middle of the piece, you’ll hear the singer’s rising and falling melodies taken over by mechanical spoken chanting. The words from this section were written by contemporary Estonian poets describing the modern machines of war which the iron is crafted into: cannons, tanks, airplanes and nuclear warheads. Listen out for the sounds of sirens and a guttural scream. The piece ends on a hopeful note, expressing our earth as the shared origin of both iron and humanity.

Svyati - John Tavener (12 mins)
Inspired by the traditions of Eastern Orthodox Church, Svyati features the text often read as the coffin is closed during a funeral: ‘Holy God, Holy and Strong, Holy and Immortal, have mercy upon us.’ The cello plays at a distance from the choir, representing the heavenly body, far off, while the choir are the earthbound, looking to the afterlife, and a glimpse of hope.

Rosemary Adams Kendall Adetogun Marius Anscombe Alisha Ardeshna Zoe Ashbrook Isabella Astfalck Immy Bailey Catriona Baxter Alex Beattie Edward Black Caitlin Blakesley Kaia Bryce Hannah Burt Emily Butcher Annabelle Carmichael Joshua Clarke Zephany Coleman Elisabeth Collier Martha Culhane Pippa Dover Ben Fletcher Rafael Flutter Henry Fry Molly Fry

Isabella Gabbitas Elsie Graham Sevi Harvey Lizzy Hookway Emma Humphrey Isabella Jones Bella Kain Alexandra Korotych Eugenia Kvedaras Milo Lennon Kjartan Magnusson Myrtle Moore Philippa Munro Raphael Nezhuvingal Erin O’Dell Adekoya Okusaga Arlo Oldale Jonny Oliver Tami Onamusi Olivia Oram Penfold Penny Page Emelia Percival Alastair Phillips Rafael Pocha

Lydia Poullis Zoe Power Cody Rae Molly Rafferty Beatrice Chrystal Regalino Bethany Ring Fox Robbins Joe Rossiter Astrid Scholar George Scott Olivia Short Darsh Somani Imogen Sowden Isabelle Stewart-Stanton Luca Swedensky Maxim Swedensky Amy Swift Amelie Taylor-Jones Craig Thompson Lily Wells Amelia Whale Joe Wilson Siya Zhao

Principal Conductor - Mariana Rosas
Vocal Coach in Residence - Richard Edgar-Wilson
Vocal Coach - Charlotte Mobbs
Section Coach (soprano 1)/Assistant Conductor - Gabriella Noble
Section Coach (soprano 2) - Charlotte Brosnan
Section Coach (Alto)/Accompanist - Fionnuala Ward
Section Coach (Tenor) - Jason Ching
Section Coach (Bass) - George Cook
Course Manager - Immy Vining
Assistant Course Manager - Stella Werth
Head of Pastoral Care - EJ Wood
Head of House/Senior Pastoral Care - Owen Smith
Head of House/Senior Pastoral Care - Harriet Jarvis
Head of House/Senior Pastoral Care - Lucy Edge
Senior Pastoral Care - Anna Lush
Senior Pastoral Care - Matthew Chappell
Head of Social - Rachel Wheatley
Course Assistant - Izzy Jackson
Course Assistant - Emma Hunt