Who can sail without the wind?

The brief Who can sail without the wind? is a folk-based piece, an arrangement of the very popular Swedish song Vem kan segla förutan vind?. Originally premiered by the upper voices of the Netherlands Children’s Choir, this English-language version for full choir was made for Stephen Layton and Trinity College Choir. A lilting, arpeggiated harp accompaniment is the unobtrusive foil to a quietly homophonic telling of the folk tale.

All works

Year

2014

Commissioner

The Trinity College Choir, Cambridge and Stephen Layton, conductor / The National Committee for 4 and 5 May of the Netherlands (Nationaal Comité 4 en 5 mei)

Instrumentation

SSA, harp/piano

Text

Swedish folksong

Language

English

Composition

Swedish folksong, arranged by Ēriks Ešenvalds

Duration

4 min

Premiere

Trinity College Choir Cambridge, harpist Sally Pryce, and conductor Stephen Layton in Trinity College Chapel Cambridge in January 2014. The original Swedish version was first performed by the Netherlands Children’s Choir (Nationaal Kinderkoor) with Lavinia Meijer (harp) and conductor Wilma ten Wolde as part of the National Remembrance Day of the Netherlands programme on 4 May 2013 in the Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam, in the presence of HM King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands.

Score

ISMN

9790697957466 (MB1746)