The Lost Words

The Lost Words by composer James Burton takes its inspiration and textfrom the award-winning ‘cultural phenomenon’ and book of the same name byRobert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris: a book that was, in turn, a creativeresponse to the removal of everyday nature words like acorn, newt and otterfrom a new edition of a widely used children’s dictionary.Boththe book and Burton’s 32-minute work, which is written in 12 short movementsfor upper-voice choir in up to 3 voice parts (with either orchestral or pianoaccompaniment), celebrates each lost word with a beautiful poem or ‘spell’,magically brought to life in Burton’s music. At its heart, the work delivers apowerful message about the need to close the gap between childhood and thenatural world. Burton’s piece was co-commissioned by the Hallé ConcertsSociety for the Hallé Children’s Choir and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Thepiano accompaniment version was premiered at the Tanglewood Festival in 2019by the Boston Symphony Children’s Choir, of which Burton is founder anddirector. The Hallé Children’s Choir will premiere the orchestral version ofthe full work in Manchester, UK, post-pandemic.VocalScoreCo-commissionby Boston Symphony and Hallé Concerts Society for their respective Children’sChoirs. Two versions – with orchestral or with piano accompaniment. The vocalscore is the same for both versions.JamesBurton is a composer but also a conductor. He is conductor of the TanglewoodFestival Chorus and choral director of the Boston Symphony.Thebook The Lost Words, exquisitely designed, has won multiple awards and is aninternational best-seller. The vocal score includes Jackie Morris's beautifulimagery in its cover design.