International Double Reed Society ​
50 for 50 
​Commissioning Grant-winner, 2022

Until the completion of Seville Cathedral in the early C16, Hagia Sophia was the world's largest church. Built by the Emperor Justinian in the sixth century AD, it was the centre of Orthodox worship for the Byzantine, eastern Roman Empire until it fell to the Ottoman Empire in the 1400s. 
​Like Troparion, Byzantion I - Hagia Sophia is based upon Greek Orthodox chant:  this time, a Prokeimenon from a C12 manuscript from Patmos. Like Rievaulx - which features Gregorian chant at the beginning of the piece - it is also a piece about an iconic church building which testifies to the past, even though its function differs today. 
​​Hagia Sophia has two principal sources of inspiration:  the Icons of Sound virtual acoustic joint project between Stanford University and the choir Cappella Romana; and W.B. Yeats' poem Sailing to Byzantium (from The Tower [1928]). 

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Byzantion I -
Hagia Sophia (2022)

for Cor anglais, Bassoon & Piano

Duration 5'20"

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"As in the gold mosaic of a wall..."

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Performance History

World Premiere
​ 51st IDRS Conference
Thursday 28 July 2022 - University of Colorado Boulder
with Kathleen Carter Bell, English Horn; Conor Bell, Bassoon;  Stephen Innis, Piano

​Second Performance
Saturday 18 February 2023 - Faculty Recital, Performing Arts Centre,
​ Tennessee State University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Kathleen Carter Bell, English Horn; Conor Bell, Bassoon; & Tiantian Liang, Piano

Third Performance
​Saturday 1 April 2023 at 1930 CT
​Amelia Johnson, English Horn
Honors Recital, The Recital Hall, Voxman Music Building,
The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
​​​Livestreamed on Facebook

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