for upper voices (SSA) & piano
Text: English (Will Todd/Pupils of All Hallows School, Shepton Mallet)
Duration: 3'30''
Difficulty: 2/5





Composer's note
This Other World was inspired by workshops with the pupils of All Hallows School in Shepton Mallet. In the workshop we focused on nature, and how it can alter our mood and bring us into a spiritual frame of mind. The words that the children wrote served as a pool of lyrics from which I created the final poem. It is a song about how the world around us can support us, change us, and lead us in our lives.


Text
There’s a secret hidden in the swaying trees,
A melody in the soaring wind,
Moonlight pouring on my face,
A gateway to another place.
Loneliness has left me now
In this other world.


On the winding pathway I am lost and cold,
But the whispering trees hold me close.
Where seas of flowers wave like hands,
Where wishing weeping willow stands.
Gentle breeze embracing me
In this other world.


There’s a message written in the glistening leaves
That will always be the heart of me.
The gathering dusk and morning light,
The colours of the birds in flight.
Gateway to the hope that’s true
In this other world.


Will Todd/Year 7 pupils of All Hallows Preparatory School, Shepton Mallet


Will Todd
Will Todd is a UK-based performer and composer whose music spans a variety of styles and genres. Best known for his choral works, his 2003 jazz mass setting Mass in Blue has been performed more than eighty times since its premiere by choirs in the UK, Europe and the USA. Other notable works for choir range from large scale oratorios such as Saint Cuthbert (recorded by the Hallé Orchestra in 2002) to the anthem Stay with Me Lord, commissioned for The Sixteen. He has worked on operas and stageworks for OperaGenesis at the Royal Opera House and the National Opera Studio, and his 2009 Jazz Concerto for Clarinet, written for Emma Johnson, has been performed in the UK, USA and Finland. As a performer, Will Todd leads his own Will Todd Trio from the piano and was recently an invited guest artist at the Lincoln Center in New York.