Three Memories of Kurdistan

The Beach, In Springtime and My Father (SSSSAAAA or SSAATTBB choir) – part of #choirsagainstracism . If you’d like to make a donation to charity for the use of this piece, please click here.

For a more advanced choir. Words by Aine McAllister, from the collective memory of Kurdish women she has worked with in a refugee camp in Grande Synthe, France. You can get all 3 as a single booklet (20 pages) for SSSSAAAA or for SSAATTBB.

Versions with piano reduction are also available: for SSSSAAAA or for SSAATTBB.

Recordings, performances and broadcasts

Heep Yunn High School choir performed “The Beach” (SSSSAAAA version) in Kowloon on Thursday 22nd June, and at the World Choir Games in South Korea in July 2023. Hear it on SoundCloud or watch on YouTube.

On 10th August 2019, all three pieces were sung as part of a #choirsagainstracism Come and Sing event at St Laurence Catford, London; we raised over £350 for Refugee Action!

“My Father” was broadcast as part of BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Worship on 16th June 2019 (Fathers’ Day), sung by the University of Glasgow Chapel Choir under Katy Cooper.

“The Beach” was broadcast on Radio 3 on 1st April 2019.

“My Father” (get the score below, for SSSSAAAA or SSAATTBB) was broadcast on Radio 3’s “In Tune” on Friday 6th April 2018: “Rather beautiful” – Sean Rafferty, “In Tune”, BBC Radio 3. Thanks to BBC Radio 3 and In Tune for playing it, and to BBC Introducing for giving people the opportunity to upload new tracks. Listen to it on Soundcloud here (recording by KC VITAs).

The BBC Singers performed “The Beach” in a concert in September 2018 in London, and it was broadcast on Radio 3 in April 2019. Click here for concert details (recording not available due to rights restrictions unfortunately!)

“In Springtime” has been recorded by the Reid Consort in Edinburgh, and is available on my CD “To The Mountain” (see front page for details). Hear it below:

Hear “My Father” in a beautiful recording by KC VITAs chamber choir, Kansas (it was selected for their call for scores in 2017):

Individual movements, recordings and audio demos

The Beach, SSSSAAAA version: download the score (Creative Commons 4.0 License) and hear a demo.
The Beach, SSAATTTBB version: download the score (Creative Commons 4.0 License) and hear a demo.

My Father, SSSSAAAA version: download the score (Creative Commons 4.0 License) and hear a recording.
My Father, SSAATTBB version: download the score (Creative Commons 4.0 License) and hear a demo.

In Springtime, SSSSAAAA version: download the score (Creative Commons 4.0 License) and hear a demo.
(If this version in D is too high – it requires one top B for the sopranos – I can supply versions in Db or C on request. The versions in C or Db have somewhat exposed low Es or Fs for the altos, but the soprano part only goes to top A or Bb.)
In Springtime, SSAATTBB version: download the score (Creative Commons 4.0) and hear a recording.

Practice tracks for “My Father”, SSAATTBB version: Soprano | Alto | Tenor | Bass | equal voices

If you have downloaded and used these pieces, please make a donation to a group fighting racism and xenophobia. Here are some suggestions:

Safe Passage – helping unaccompanied children and vulnerable adults to legally seek asylum in the UK
Refugee Action who help refugees settle in the UK
Refugee Council supporting and empowering refugees
Scottish Refugee Council, building a better future with refugees in Scotland
The Young Center who assist unaccompanied immigrant children in the US
RAICES Texas – Family Reunification and Bond Fund – reuniting refugee and asylum seeker families who have been separated in US custody
The ACLU, American Civil Liberties Union, who fight for equal treatment under the law
CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations
Human Rights Watch
Save The Children