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Available for over a year

In 2017, Will was selected from hundreds of entrants as one of the winners in the Upper Junior category of the annual �鶹�� Young Composer Competition. As part of his prize he received a �鶹�� commission to write a new piece to celebrate the 50th anniversary of NASA’s Apollo 11 Moon landing. Voyage of the Soul was recorded by the �鶹�� Singers and conducted by Anna Lapwood at �鶹�� 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 “Gliding o’er all” 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’s description “magnificent desolation”. The piece builds to a climax at Neil Armstrong’s statement “The Eagle has landed”, 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.