How Can I Keep From Singing?

How Can I Keep From Singing? (2015)

for unaccompanied SATB choir (with solos and divisi)

Text by 'Pauline T.', taken from the 19th Century hymn by Robert Lowry, with alterations by the composer.

Duration: approx. 10 minutes

Music forms an integral part of the rite of celebration, whether it be through dance and movement, playing instruments or lifting voices in song. There is something universal about making and responding to music in an act of joyful celebration, and singing in particular plays a unique role due to its immediacy and accessibility. Few would call ourselves 'singers', but in different ways and at different times, we all sing. And a lot of the time, we do so with uninhibited joy.

How Can I Keep From Singing was written for the Adelaide Chamber Singers‐ an incredible group of people who can sing rather well‐ and is a celebration of song, the beauty of music and the joy of singing together. One by one the women's voices come together in echoes and duets of a single refrain. After a time they are joined by the men, and together the group journey through moments of uncertainty, fear and hope before eventually returning to celebration. The question asked in the opening lines is in fact no question at all; throughout the journey, the music, the dance and the singing must go on.