Stephen Hatfield is noted for his exciting arrangements of world music, and for his original works which weave influences from diverse cultures into a fresh and distinctive idiom. His choirs have earned gold medals in national festivals, and he has received various awards for his work in education and music. With "For Elizabeth:.." Hatfield uses the old Italian technique of matching the vowels of her name to the corresponding sol-fa syllables to create an ostinato that metaphorically translates her into music. The piece combines poignancy with lots of sparkle, lots of interlocking ostinati. The mix of tenderness and energy has effected audiences strongly. "Glettur" is an Icelandic word that signifies a mischievous but ultimately good-hearted sense of humour. Launching itself from a snatch of an old fiddle jig, "Glettur" lives up to its name with crafty changes of style and key, and with ironic allusions to a couple of other famous pieces of music that have something to do with high spirit. With "Fashion Victim, Drama Queen" we have a slangy de profundis about trying to placate your peer group. The soli section acts as the Drama Queen, while the rest of the choir takes the part of the peer group, commenting on the outsider in a mixture of English and Tex-Mex Spanish slang. Each movement of Missa Brevis incorporates folk melodies from a different country. The moods and the tempi of the originals have been altered; melodies have been unraveled, spliced together and persuaded to modulate. |
