In Here Be Angels I wanted to look at different aspects of the nature of Angels from the point of view of the pre-Reformation and early post-Reformation periods. A time when the Angelic host could be rigorously divided into nine categories, each with their own particular characteristics; when Angels could be given names and have real characters; when the argument about how many Angels could dance on the head of a pin represented a very real philosophical argument about the very nature of Angels; and when the poet Milton could describe and name the rebel Angels with such force.
A subtitle for the piece might be Angels and their names, as the names of the Angels and the names of the Angelic hosts run as threads through all three movements. The first movement includes the names and descriptions of the nine ranks of Angels, the second includes a list of individual Angels’ names and the final movement includes the names of the rebel Angels.
The work is written for unaccompanied double chorus. One chorus might be described as the earth-bound chorus, sung by lower voices (Altos, Tenors and Basses) and the second chorus as the more ethereal chorus, sung by higher voices (Sopranos, Altos and Tenors). To emphasise the split between the choirs the outer movements are bi-tonal (the first choir sings in a different key to that of the second choir).
When producing the piece, I was concerned to write a dramatic work that was both challenging and enjoyable for the choir to sing. To dramatise the text, I used various other musical techniques, in addition to the more conventional ones: certain sections are aleatoric and unmeasured, in each of these, the beginning and end of the section is indicated by the conductor. Within the section, the individual choir members choose the speed and rhythm of the notes that they sing, though the notes themselves are fixed. Some passages mix singing with unpitched, rhythmical speaking of the text. Other passages reduce the speaking of the text to an unrhythmical muttering. Besides giving the freedom to choose speeds and rhythms, other passages specify the rhythm but allow the individual singers to choose the exact pitches of the notes within a given range.
The text is drawn from a variety of sources. The first movement uses passages from The Celestial Hierarchy by Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite. Written in the 6th Century, this was the first book to formalise the Angelic host into nine groups (three groups of three). The second movement uses a list of Angel’s names from the Book of Enoch (a work preserved by the Ethiopian church), combined with a discussion on how many Angels can dance on a pin. The final movement uses some of the lines from Milton’s Paradise Lost that describe the rebel Angels.
The first movement opens with a prelude that is an evocation of heaven. At first we see Heaven from a distance as the earthly choir sings Alleluias and are answered by distant echoes of the singing of the heavenly host. Then, as we approach closer to Heaven, both choirs combine to name and describe the nine ranks of Angels dwelling there. The heavenly choir’s descriptions of the Angelic host being accompanied by unpitched passages designed to evoke the beating of the Angels’ wings.
The second movement combines the slow movement and the scherzo. The altos and tenors engage in a discussion about how many Angels can dance on a pin. This starts out humorously but develops into a philosophical discussion with quotations from such writers as St. Thomas Aquinas. The sopranos and basses accompany this by slowly singing a list of the names of Angels.
The final movement describes the snarling, growling assembly of the host of rebel Angels. Occasionally one of the rebel commanders, such as Moloch, Peos or Chemor, appears accompanied by snatches of a march. Later, some of the more exotic rebels appear, such as Astarte or Ashtoreth, accompanied by more erotic, languorous melodies. Finally, amidst the clamour, Satan himself appears, the hosts hoist their banners and the music takes on the form of a steady, but rather noisy, march. We leave Satan in all his fallen glory, at the head of his myriad hosts, waiting revenge.
Robert Hugill