SATB a cappella.

The Magic Paint Brush is about the struggle between good and evil.

Edward Broadbridge – an English writer and lecturer living in Denmark – has built his libretto on the Chinese folktale about the young man, Ma Lang, whose dream of a magic paint brush comes true. Whatever Ma Lang paints comes into being – and in this way he helps the poor, the thirsty and the needy.

But a rich man steals the magic paint brush and throws Ma Lang into prison. He wants to paint gold and silver for himself – but he cannot make the paint brush work. So he forces Ma Lang to paint for him.

The Magic Paint Brush was commissioned by WSCM8 (8^th World Symposium on Choral Music) and was first performed by Schola Cantorum, conducted by the composer.

The music follows the symposium’s aim to incorporate the visual aspect of a concert, using voice, human body and space. It also meets the requirement that “the work must be written from a difficulty so that it may easily be sung by many choirs all over the world”.

Cantando Musikkforlag AS