Wycombe Abbey Senior is Joint Winner at the Sir David Willcocks Carol Composer Competition
13 December 2024 - All
The Bach Choir has been running the annual Sir David Willcocks Carol Composer Competition since 2017. The competition aims to provide opportunities for composers all over the world and to add new carols to the repertoire. Entrants compose a carol which is judged by David Hill MBE, Charlotte Harding, Carmen Ho, and Chery Frances-Hoad. The winning compositions are then performed live at Bach Choir’s ‘Carols at Cadogan Concert’, which is one of their most cherished concerts of the year and often features a full house with nearly 1,000 attendees.
We are delighted to announce that, with her submission of ‘Good Festival of Christian Cheer’ Wycombe Abbey Senior Barbara Steadman-Allen (C120, Shelburne, 1971) has been announced as joint winner of this prestigious competition. We are so glad to see that Barbara’s musical passion has continued to thrive beyond her time at Wycombe Abbey, where she excelled as Leader of the Choir and Shelburne House Conductor.
Upon winning the competition, Joe from Bach Choir sat down with Barbara to ask her about her journey to composing ‘Good Festival of Christian Cheer’
Are you excited for the premiere of your work?
Of course! To a large extent, the completion of a piece of music lies in its performance and getting to hear it is such a gift. But there’s another personal component to my joy. This week is the 10th anniversary of my Salvation Army composer-father’s death. His work and his encouragement of my writing is still an inspiration to me, so tonight is very special. This moment can be in honour of his contribution to my life.
Have you ever had a choir sing your music before? How did it feel to experience that?
Yes, but not often. My local church choir in Dorking and Choral Society in Mickleham both sang ‘Remembrance’ this year, a setting of Lawrence Binyon’s famous words. It’s always a buzz to hear my work realised. But it’s also a risk to put a piece ‘out there’. As the copies are given out to the singers, it ceases to be yours and becomes everyone’s – and not everyone hears it as you conceived it… Then, when you hear it, an endless urge to tweak and improve it breaks out but – it’s too late – they’ve learned it the way it is! But the opportunity for performance is a great asset to a composer.
Why were you drawn to write a carol, and which part of the spirit of Christmas or the biblical narrative of it does your carol aim to capture? Carols tug at our heads and our hearts don’t they? It’s a great time of year to celebrate with shared music and always fun to have a crack at adding to the vast corpus of Christmas music.
The story of Jesus started way back in God-given promises for someone who would bring something better and it is an unbroken story through his crucifixion and resurrection to his ascension and return. We break the story into chapters so we can think about each one but it’s easy to leave the baby in the manger and not watch him grow up and become a world-changer. I like to try. That’s not to say that all carols should have a serious moment about them. It’s just fun to celebrate the joy together.
Do you think you’ll write more carols as a result of this?
Two other Christmas carols are already being sung locally this year and I’m sure there will be more. There’s no incentive quite like having an occasion to write for.
Has this inspired you to compose more? What are your plans for the future as a composer and musician?
Yes, I have found this year’s welcome of my carol deeply motivational.
The future? During lockdown in 2020, I wrote a cantata – a setting of each chapter of the events of Easter based on the events in Mark’s gospel and it became a sort of personal pilgrimage. I am creating an accompaniment for piano (the original was for string orchestra) in the hope that one day I might get to hear that too. Fairly recently, I was privileged to study for an MA in Church Music at the University of York, submitting a portfolio of original compositions, and I have wondered about following up more along that line. Meanwhile, I have a special birthday coming up in the family and I’m already getting my head around some words I’ve found so that I can give a unique gift.
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