Falling is a new composition by Andrew Schultz for six unaccompanied voices that will soon have its premiere performances in Sydney and Canberra.
“He heard the snow falling faintly through the universe.”
This wonderful and enigmatic line is from James Joyce’s The Dead, the final short story in his early collection, Dubliners. The short story is set in the early 1900s at Christmas Eve in a well-off Dublin house where old friends have gathered to quietly celebrate the festive season with drinks. Something they probably do every year.
The famous final paragraph of The Dead is a beautiful and profound evocation of snow falling as the evening darkens into softly lamplit night. “It had begun to snow again. He watched sleepily the flakes, silver and dark, against the lamplight.”
Joyce’s text contrasts the intricate and private emotions of the individual characters with the ineffably simple yet overwhelming background of nature. As the revellers watch through the window the snow falls with increasing momentum outside their warm room. It soon falls all across Ireland. “It was falling on every part of the dark central plain, on the treeless hills, falling softly.”
Falling, opus 122 (2026) is a very recent composition for six unaccompanied voices soon to have its first season. Composer Andrew Schultz takes the closing paragraph of James Joyce’s The Dead as the starting point for the music..
Andrew Schultz comments: “In my setting I emphasise the idea of ‘falling’ as both an observation of snow and as a metaphor for human experience. As the snow gently builds and then drifts across the streets, churchyards, coast and plains so the fragile, fleeting inner worlds of the characters unfold in the music.”
Falling was commissioned by Luminescence Chamber Singers with funding support from Geoff Stearn. The first performances will be given by Luminescence, conducted by Roland Peelman, at St James’ Church, King Street, Sydney, on 10 December 2026. They repeat the performance in Canberra at Wesley Uniting Church, National Circuit, Forrest on 18 and 20 December.
To read the full text of Falling, click here.
Photo: ‘A street light in the snow at night’ by Stefano Bucciarelli on Unsplash.com