Three Songs for the
Freedom Chorus
1. Energy and Flow
2. Rebirth and Resurrection
3. Performance and Celebration
Hull Freedom Chorus
Written in collaboration with Hull Freedom Chorus, Michael Betteridge and Cassandra Parkin
Join us in the dance.
Star-hearted, we will spiral smokewise –
Bold-blazing, sky-skimming, deep-tumbling,
We will sing ourselves to ash,
And wait to be reborn.
All life is flow.
Hull Freedom Chorus is a massed project-based choir of more than 3000 singers. A total of 36 took part in the Voices Weaving project, creating a poem with writer Cassandra Parkin, which was set to music in collaboration with Michael Betteridge.
“It is great to be part of something bigger and it is really interesting to see how our views and ideas are taken and transformed into a piece of performance art. I feel a sense of achievement and pride.”
The final poem was split into three parts: 1. Energy and Flow, 2. Rebirth and Resurrection and 3. Performance and Celebration
The music videos for each song, captured as part of the process, each show a different side to the choir: the first, Energy and Flow, sees the singers lit by torchlight, sliding in and out of focus. The second, Rebirth and Resurrection, highlights each singer in turn, wearing bright colours against a blue backdrop. The singers take the streets of Hull for the final film, reflecting the poetry.
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“Doing something like this would ordinarily terrify me. The choir members and the project organisers, composers and directors were all very welcoming and friendly and made the environment really comfortable to be in.”
ENERGY AND FLOW
We begin alone. Each one of us
Falls into land’s kiss,
Spark-showers struck from flint sky.
As we tumble earthwards,
Hear us calling, calling, calling –
Is that you?
Is this me?
Are we one?
Landlocked, we become fragments,
We unite, squabble, splinter, shatter, rediscover,
Droplet into trickle into joyful flood
Reshaping, remaking,
Always calling, calling, calling –
I hear you.
You hear me.
Let’s be one.
Triumphant, we heartbeat the city.
We are salt and savour,
Deep dream and righteous roar
Moved by suck and surge of tide.
Still we’re calling, calling, calling:
I am you.
You are me.
We are one.
REBIRTH AND RESURRECTION
Catch us if you can.
Cobalt-clad, we dive the deepwater:
Red-robed, we summon snow.
Born in breath, made of melody,
We flame bright, brave, brief –
All life is flow.
Can you hold our song
In your hand?
The here / gone / here / gone rhythm
Pulses against your palm.
Shape-shifters all, we are glimpsed, glorious,
Then gone -
All life is flow.
Join us in the dance.
Star-hearted, we will spiral smokewise –
Bold-blazing, sky-skimming, deep-tumbling,
We will sing ourselves to ash,
And wait to be reborn.
All life is flow.
Come close. Join hands. Catch fire.
PERFORMANCE AND CELEBRATION
First, silence
Bright stillness
Of the held breath -
We begin alone
Next, the flame-spark -
All our heartbeats
Made of melody
We are one
Dive the deepwater
Of our city’s tide
Will it be deep dream
Or righteous roar?
We are star-forged
See us soar,
Spiral, tumble –
Catch us if you can
Hold our song
In your palm
To give is to receive
And all life is flow
Creative Team Credits
Composer, Michael Betteridge
Writer, Cassandra Parkin
Movement Director, Ruth Jones
Filmmaker, Luca Rudlin
Sound Engineer, Johnny Woodhead
Creative Producer, Holly Hunter​​
