She's Made out of Stars

This piece was commissioned to be part of a virtual concert during the Covid-pandemic 2021. Virtual in this case, meaning that the piece was recorded individually by all the singers beforehand. The piece, for choir and piano, is a setting of poetry by my friend, and contemporary poet, Louise Alexandra Erskine, portraying a celestial image of burning stars. The pandemic forced performers to rethink live music and the virtual choir phenomena is now a well-known performance practice. Instead of working against these premises, I decided to embrace them and create a piece that benefits from the individual nature of the performance. My idea was to create a piece where the singers are together, but in a slightly unfocused, and separated way. The British composer Paul Mealor once said that my music reminded him about those wind chimes decorations one might hang in front of the door, and musically, I think that sound resonates perfectly with the imagery of this poem. This piece was commissioned by the Canadian mixed choir Resound and their conductor Thomas Burton.

Henrik Dahlgren