Philip Sawyers: Mayflower on the Sea of Time PHILIP SAWYERS (1951 -) MAYFLOWER ON THE SEA OF TIME 1. Part One: Persecution and Journey 2. Part Two: Arrival in the New World 3. Part Three: Survival and Making Our Community 4. Part Four: Our New World English Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Kenneth Woods, conductor. April Fredrick, soprano ; Thomas Humphreys, baritone; Brittany King, soprano; Amelia Jones, soprano. NI6439 18.99

Description: The 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower was in 2020. My task as a composer was to write a substantial choral/orchestral work to celebrate this event and the challenges that the Pilgrims faced in the New World. My librettist wrote an imaginative piece that incorporated both a narrative and a reflection on the wider implications the story contained. So human attributes and frailties, moral, religious and political questions are touched upon. The resulting Oratorio, Mayflower on the Sea of Time, is in 4 parts. The soprano and baritone soloists take on multiple roles as both narrators and different characters from the story. The first part, persecution and journey, gave me scope among other things for an exciting ‘storm at sea’ section. The second part, Arrival in the New World, features historic characters, some from Worcester City, and also includes some of the communities’ children. One of the main characters, Edward Winslow, was educated at King’s School Worcester Cathedral between 1606 and 1611. We also meet the first Native Americans that the Pilgrims encounter and the music takes us through their sometimes peaceful and sometimes antagonistic co-existence. The third part is Survival and Making our Community. Musically this is a fast ‘scherzo’ section with an equal mix of humour (wives berating their husbands for excessive drinking!) and pathos as the hard first winter led to the deaths of many in the settlement. The fourth part includes a joyous celebration, the first Thanksgiving, and reflections on what happened to some of the characters we have already met. I have interpolated a short quote from Thomas Tomkins’ motet ‘We brought nothing into this world’ during Susanna’s final outburst of grief. Tomkins was appointed as inspector of the choristers at Worcester Cathedral in 1592 and spent most of his later years in Worcester. The final section of part 4, The Sea of Time, ties the themes together with an almost timeless relevance to the human journeys we all share. The last duet between the soprano and baritone soloists is a setting of some lines reflecting the mystic qualities of the natural world by one of America’s most iconic poets, Walt Whitman. The last joyous chorus brings the work to an affirmative close. -Philip Sawyers. Having conducted as much of Philip Sawyers’ music as I have, I have learned that he’s very sensitive to genre and idiom. With this experience in mind, I was fascinated to see what new facets of Philip’s vast musical personality would come to the fore in this, his first oratorio. Given the strong narrative of the source material, it will be no surprise to listeners that this is music that is most often striving purposefully forward. Where in his symphonies, Philip is often very careful to highlight structural moments, and to punctuate musical sentences and paragraphs with great precision and clarity, Mayflower is a study in constant transition and transformation. Cast in four large parts, there is an obvious and intentional overlap with traditional symphonic structure, right down to the ‘scherzo’ of the third section. But the ongoing weaving of Leitmotifs throughout the work means that the hour-long whole expresses a depth of continuity and connection that i find incredibly compelling. One could be forgiven for wondering if Philip’s many years playing Wagner in the Royal Opera House pit informed his approach. Nevertheless, however much Philip has adopted technically from his forebears, the language, the voice and the vision are uniquely his. Live Recording - World Premiere Recording [Kenneth Woods]