Miracle is a choral setting of a poem of the same name by Gavin Barrett. It was composed as part of the Amadeus Choir’s “Choral Creation Lab” in 2023, where three composers were paired with three poets to create new choral works entirely from scratch.

The music is inspired by the genuine and heart-wrenching simplicity of the text. In my initial meetings with Gavin, he spoke with such calm assurance, and when reading this poem, delivered the lines in a matter of fact way that resonated with me deeply, causing a feeling of emotional butterflies. In setting these words, I attempted to mimic the simplicity of delivery through homophonic and duet textures, and wanted to communicate the feeling of butterflies and heartbeat rhythms through rhythmic motifs.

This poem is made up of 2 5-line verses, with a hidden 5-line verse in the middle. This is represented in the music through a shift of key at “Until my heart attacked me”, returning at “Faith is the thing that flew”.