David Hamilton
David Hamilton writes choral music built for real voices: school, youth and community choirs as much as the concert stage. His settings favour clear text, luminous harmony and the full colour range of the choral instrument, as in his Ecce beatam lucem.
A New Zealand composer with a large catalogue of choral works, he is drawn to Latin and sacred texts, nature imagery and pieces that sing well without losing craft. Ecce beatam lucem reimagines a text famous from Striggio’s forty-part setting as contemporary choral writing sensitive to blend, line and light. Beyond the choir he has written orchestral scores, concertante works and chamber music, yet the centre of the output remains vocal: practical, widely performed repertoire that still aims for beauty of sonority and careful word-setting.
Compositions by David Hamilton appear on
Luminescence
Light is integral to colour, and musical integrity is often described in terms of its colour or luminescence. Celebrating Canticum's 21st birthday year, composers were sought whose music reflects a particular sensitivity to the versatility of the choral instrument and which celebrates beautiful text.