|
| Instrumentation: |
mixed choir |
| Divisi: |
SSAATTBB |
| Duration: |
4' |
| Year Composed: |
2018 |
| Text: |
Marjorie Pickthall |
| Commmissioner: |
Oras Chamber Choir (Thunder Bay, Ontario)
and Erik Johannes Riekko, conductor |
Peruse the first two pages of the score here.
Born in England, the writer Marjorie Pickthall (1883-1922) grew up in Toronto and spent her last
years writing in a small cottage on Vancouver Island. Though widely celebrated during her
lifetime, her reputation took a plunge, shot down by modernist critics who disapproved of her
romantic leanings. I came across her collected poems quite by accident and was immediately
enthralled by their supreme craft, attractive rhythm, clarity of expression, and concision—all
lyrical qualities that invite musical setting. Two of these, "Again" and "Riding", written late in
her career and published posthumously, brim with enthusiasm for time spent in solitude in the
great outdoors, a distinctly Canadian value with which I strongly identify. Moreover, the speaker
in both appears to be dead—or, ironically, at least nearly so. In "Again", she yearns for
communion with nature; in "Riding", to ride a horse swiftly "between the hills and the sea". The
poems, though unrelated, share not only a similar perspective—a desire to experience anew life’s
wonders—but also vocabulary: "again", "rain", and "O God". I have brought the pair into direct
contact by joining them seamlessly, then reprising "Again", varied, its melody now accompanied
by the galloping "riding" motive, such harmonious merging of texts the unique domain of music.—R.R.
- May 4, 2019—Oras Chamber Choir. Sean Kim, cond.
St. Paul's Anglican Church (Thunder Bay, ON)
AGAIN
from The Woodcarver’s Wife (1922) by Marjorie Pickthall
Just to live under green leaves and see them
Just to lie under low stars and watch them wane,
Just to sleep by a kind heart and know it loving
Again—
Just to wake on a sunny day and the wind blowing,
Just to walk on a bare road in a bright rain,—
These, O God, and the night, and the moon showing
Again—
RIDING
from The Woodcarver’s Wife (1922) by Marjorie Pickthall
If I should live again,
Quick of sinew and vein
O God, let me be young,
With the honeycomb on my tongue,
All in a moment flung
With the dawn on a flowing plain,
Riding, riding, riding, riding
Between the sun and the rain.
If, having been, must be,
O God, let it be so,
Swift and supple and free
With a long journey to go,
And the clink of the curb and the blow
Of hooves, and the wind at my knee,
Riding, riding, riding, riding
Between the hills and the sea.
For score perusal and purchase information,
contact Robert Rival.
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