麻豆社

In 2017, Will was selected from hundreds of entrants as one of the winners in the Upper Junior category of the annual 麻豆社 Young Composer Competition. As part of his prize he received a 麻豆社 commission to write a new piece to celebrate the 50th anniversary of NASA鈥檚 Apollo 11 Moon landing.

Voyage of the Soul was recorded by the 麻豆社 Singers and conducted by Anna Lapwood at 麻豆社 Maida Vale Studios in June 2019.

I was inspired by my commission brief to evoke both the triumph of Apollo 11 and the mystery of the space expedition. To achieve this, I combined a Walt Whitman poem 鈥淕liding o鈥檈r all鈥� with quotations from the Apollo 11 astronauts during the mission. I set this poem with melismatic melodic lines over a static texture reminiscent of the stillness and beauty of outer space, inspired by Buzz Aldrin鈥檚 description 鈥渕agnificent desolation鈥�. The piece builds to a climax at Neil Armstrong鈥檚 statement 鈥淭he Eagle has landed鈥�, the pinnacle of the mission. A more reflective final section follows, meditating on the significance of Apollo 11 for all of mankind, returning to the stillness of the opening.