Hallelujah Sim.

for SATB chorus, orchestra & electronics (2024)

Hallelujah Sim. is structured like a game. The rules are simple: the chorus must follow the instructions given to them by a narrator - sing faster, sing slower, try again, combine voice types, randomise syllables - in order to progress through the piece. There are four levels or ‘Hallelujahs’ to complete, followed by a final ‘Amen.’ Once each level is cleared, the piece finishes.

The ‘Sim.’ in the title refers to a simulation, ie something virtual or imaginary. I pictured a dreamlike scenario where old traditions and symbols (hallelujahs, choirs, the Royal Albert Hall) are charged with a strange, new intensity, like not-quite-real versions of themselves, glossy and commodified. Sacred music but written from the wrong angle: not serene or elegant or poised, but choppy, mechanical and sample-like - looping, changing speed, switching on and off - as if the music were writing itself in real time. A perfect, virtual hallelujah.

Commissioned by BBC Radio 3 for the First Night of the Proms 2024, performed by BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Chorus and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Elim Chan at the Royal Albert Hall on 19 July 2024.