Lapwood, Anna - An Irish Blessing (upper voices)

Setting the familiar traditional Irish text, ‘May the road rise up to meet you’, An Irish Blessing was written in 2024 as a parting gift for a Pembroke College, Cambridge organ scholar, Andreana Chan, who was graduating that year. The piece is also fitting as Anna Lapwood herself departed the college in 2025, and she dedicates this work to all the singers and organists she worked with over her nine years at Pembroke. With a beautifully crafted melody and supportive, flowing accompaniment for either piano or harp, the voices explore a variety of colours reflecting the poignant text. The vocal lines are written mostly in two parts, with occasional additional divisi, but the homophonic texture makes the work accessible to developing voices and more advanced upper-voice choirs alike. Also available for mixed voices (SATB with divisi).