Second Eve is an inspirational five minute piece for 8 part a cappella choir. It was commissioned by, dedicated to, and later premiered by the Riverside City College Chamber Choir and conductor John Byun in Riverside, California in October 2008.

"In some of my pieces, the text is somewhat more the servant of the music than the other way around, and Second Eve is one of those works. The music is mainly inspired by a breathtaking photograph taken by one of my favorite photographers, Jake Rajs, featured in the book These United States (Rizzoli). It is a picture of Alaska's Mount McKinley, the highest mountain peak in the US, and I was looking at this photo throughout the writing process, making sure that the energy and atmosphere of the music corresponded with the feeling I got from looking at the picture. The Sancta Maria text seemed to kind of fit into what I was looking for in this piece, expressing something mystical, and kind of regal, which Mt. McKinley is in every possible way. Second Eve was commissioned by, dedicated to, and later premiered by the Riverside City College Chamber Choir and conductor John Byun in Riverside, California, October 2008." (Ola Gjeilo)

Second Eve für Chor SSAATTBB: Auftragswerk des Riverside City College Chamber Choir
In einigen meiner Stücke ist der Text eher Diener der Musik als umgekehrt, so auch bei Second Eve. Die Musik wurde durch eine atemberaubende Fotografie von Jake Rajs, einem meiner Lieblingsfotographen, inspiriert: eine Aufnahme des Mount McKinley (Alaska), des höchsten Berges der USA. Während des Komponierens sah ich mir das Foto immer wieder an, um sicherzugehen, dass die Energie und Atmosphäre der Musik mit der des Bildes übereinstimmt. Der Sancta-Maria-Text passte genau zu dem, was ich in dem Stück ausdrücken wollte: eine gewisse Mystik und Erhabenheit, die der Mount McKinley in jeder Hinsicht verkörpert.

Ola Gjeilo (pronounced Yay-lo) was born in Norway in 1978, and moved to the United States in 2001 to begin his composition studies at the Juilliard School in New York City. Ola's concert works are performed all over the world, and his debut recording as a pianist-composer, the lyrical crossover album Stone Rose, was released in 2007, followed by its 2012 sequel, Piano Improvisations. Many of Ola’s choral works are featured on Phoenix Chorale/Charles Bruffy’s CD on the Chandos label, Northern Lights (2012), which is devoted entirely to his music for choir.