Silver (2024)
Three settings of Walter De La Mare
1. Full Moon
2. Why?
3. Silver
Baritone (or Tenor) and Piano
Duration:
8′
First Performance:
25 May 2024
Robert Rice, Will Vann, Acorn Centre, Inverurie, UK
First Performance ‘Full Moon’:
03 February 2024
Robert Rice, Will Vann, Unitarian Church, St Savioursgate, York, UK
Score
Programme note
Silver is an attempt to write simple, melodic songs that are direct and emotive, but stripped of any unnecessary embellishments or ornaments. The three songs are all poems from Walter De La Mare (1873-1956), one of my favourite poets as a composer and are a return to his work for me after setting it earlier with Two De La Mare Songs (2012) and The Song of Shadows (2016). All three songs relate to moonlight, and all include the word ‘silver’ that gives the set its title. Despite the intended simplicity and directness, there is a cloying melancholy that pervades the songs – for an idiomatic performance, the singer can ‘lean into’ this emotion for full effect.
PAC
