Programme Notes

In 2017, I was approached by my friend Matthew Norriss to write a piece for a recital he was preparing for. This gave me a chance to set to music the words of a poet that I had been meaning to explore for quite a while: Oscar Wilde. What emerged from that exploration was a piece that was quite somber in character, and took advantage of Norriss' perfect pitch (which is why the first few bars are unaccompanied).

The poem is a reflection on the persona's feeling of being in the wilderness while a higher being, that of God, is omnipitent and often leaves humankind in the dark. The consolation the persona reaches, however, is that they will eventually meet this higher being in "some devine eternity". In reaching this consolation, however, the person goes though much toil and pain.