Land of Hope and Glory

This piece was commissioned by the albion project, led by composers Gabriel pro and Orlando gough in collaboration with the much lauded fretwork ensemble. The project commissions 10 composers to re-imagine classical british rock and pop for a now obscure but historically significant musical force – the viol ensemble, thus celebrating the rich heritage of british music both ancient and new.

I’ve taken an archetypal song from the British post-colonial era – Land of Hope and Gory – and ‘Africanised’ it through instrumentation, rhythmic devices and vocal patterns that evoke the music of Black communities in the U.K, many of whom have their origins in the Caribbean. The result is a re-composition of a hymn that reflects the huge impact that Caribbean music has had on British popular culture, and celebrates its ‘colonising’ effect on British music.