for mixed chorus and orchestra (2026)
5 minutes
Instrumentation
0202 / 2230 / timp / strings
2 Oboes, 2 Bassoons
2 Horns in F*, 2 Trumpets in D, 2 Tenor Trombones, Bass Trombone
1 Timpani player
Strings
*The horns can optionally be doubled.
Text
In Ancient Greek by Pindar:
Δεῦτ᾿ ἐν χορόν, Ὀλύμπιοι,
ἐπί τε κλυτὰν πέμπετε χάριν, θεοί,
πολύβατον οἵ τ᾿ ἄστεος ὀμφαλὸν θυόεντ
[…]
οἰχνεῖτε πανδαίδαλόν τ᾿ εὐκλέ᾿ ἀγοράν·
ἰοδέτων λάχετε στεφάνων τᾶν τ᾿ ἐαριδρόπων ἀοιδᾶν[.]
— in Dionysius of Halicarnassus, De compositione verborum, Chapter 22, quoting Pindar.
Come to the chorus, Olympians,
and send over it glorious grace, you gods
who are coming to the city’s crowded, incense-rich navel
[…]
and to the glorious, richly adorned agora.
Receive wreaths of plaited violets and the songs plucked in springtime[.]
— Translated by William H. Race in Pindar, Vol. II, Loeb Classical Library Volume 485, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, Copyright © 1997 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Loeb Classical Library ® is a registered trademark of the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Commission
Commissioned by BBC Radio 3 for the Proms
First performance
September 12, 2026
London, United Kingdom / Royal Albert Hall
BBC Symphony Orchestra / BBC Symphony Chorus / BBC Singers / Sakari Oramo, conductor
Pairing suggestions
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 9
Georg Friedrich Händel: Zadok the Priest, HWV 258
William Walton: Belshazzar’s Feast
Johann Sebastian Bach: Magnificat, BWV 243
Felix Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 2 “Lobgesang”
Benjamin Britten: Spring Symphony
Darius Milhaud: L’Orestie d’Eschyle: II. Les Choéphores (1916)
Igor Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms
Access
Available for hire.
Contact Nicolas Farmer: nicolas.farmer(a)samymoussa.com