Eric Paździora - Nativity of the Isles

Nativity of the Isles (2017) is dedicated to the memory of Alan and Ghalib Kurdi, and the 28 million children displaced in the world today. The choral cycle reflects upon past and current refugee crises through the story of the first Nativity, as the Holy Family fled for safety from political violence. With a mixture of ancient prayers and texts derived from the Carmina Gadelica of Alexander Carmichael, it develops melodic ideas from folk melodies and liturgical chant from disparate sources including Scotland and Syria. The witness of Catherine MacPhee of South Uist, recalling the Highland Clearances, mingles with the songs and games of dead children lost at sea. Prayer, chant, and lullaby evoke the hopes and bereavements of migrant parents and children, like the Mother and Child whose displacement is commemorated in the Nativity and Pieta.

I. Ave Maris Stella
II. Who Is She
III. Many a Thing Have I Seen / Bless This Creature Water
IV. We Found the Maiden Walking
V. This Is the Grey Manger

For more of Eric's work: https://www.ericpazdziora.com/