“The composer uses a full chorus and orchestra to narrate the heartbreaking yet transcendent story, with earnest, declamatory vocal settings and striking instrumental illustrations.”
Joshua Rosenblum
Opera News, 2016

• For SATB chorus and orchestra
• Duration: 20:00
• Based on Hans Christian Andersen’s short story

Orchestration: piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, celesta, harp, strings
(Piano reduction available)
Perusal score and text available upon request

Stream on the album: The Little Match Girl

COMPOSER’S NOTES
Andersen’s story is only three pages. I picked a translation from the Danish, and set it more or less word for word. The occasional speedups and slowdowns in my setting pose a challenge to the orchestra, and particularly the chorus, in staying together. The climax comes when the little girl rises to heaven in her grandmother’s arms. An orchestral interlude then recapitulates the themes, and the chorus returns in serenity.