Tenor voice and Piano; 4 minutes
In
2001, my good
friend John Bacon
approached me with a poem, Adlestrop, by
Edward Thomas. He
suggested I use it to compose a piece he would perform. Of course, I
agreed and this song was born. The poem reminds me of an old black and
white photograph - a snapshot of a moment in time. A nostalgic and
traditional tone permeates the song.
Text by Edward Thomas, 1878-1917 (below).
Text by Edward Thomas, 1878-1917 (below).
Premiered April, 2001 at the U.B.C. Recital Hall, Vancouver, B.C. |
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John Bacon, tenor Karen Lee-Morlang, piano |
Listen
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Yes,
I remember Adlestrop --
The name, because one afternoon
Of heat the express-train drew up there
Unwontedly. It was late June.
The steam hissed. Someone cleared his throat.
No one left and no one came
On the bare platform. What I saw
Was Adlestrop -- only the name
And willows, willow-herb, and grass,
And meadowsweet, and haycocks dry,
No whit less still and lonely fair
Than the high cloudlets in the sky.
And for that minute a blackbird sang
Close by, and round him, mistier,
Farther and farther, all the birds
Of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.
The name, because one afternoon
Of heat the express-train drew up there
Unwontedly. It was late June.
The steam hissed. Someone cleared his throat.
No one left and no one came
On the bare platform. What I saw
Was Adlestrop -- only the name
And willows, willow-herb, and grass,
And meadowsweet, and haycocks dry,
No whit less still and lonely fair
Than the high cloudlets in the sky.
And for that minute a blackbird sang
Close by, and round him, mistier,
Farther and farther, all the birds
Of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.