Six Quatrains

Six Quatrains

$15.00

Six Quatrains

Composed to the eponymous poem by the American writer Ursula K. Le Guin, Six Quatrains is a song cycle which captures six unique scenes in autumn, winter and spring. My goal is to make each quatrain a short song that has its own particular character and essence. The ensemble consists of a piano trio, but is broken into smaller combinations throughout the cycle, culminating in the full compliment (piano, violin and cello) playing together only in Hinal song. The different instrumentation for each quatrain reflects the individual character of each scene, and the additive process of enriching instruments introduces different colors as the work unfolds.

 

 

North Star Catalog
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    Description

    Six Quatrains
    Ursula K. Le Guin

    AUTUMN
    gold of amber
    red of ember
    brown of umber
    all September

    MCCOY CREEK
    Over the bright shallows
    now no flights of swallows.
    Leaves of the sheltering willow
    dangle thin and yellow.

    OCTOBER
    At four in the morning the west wind
    moved in the leaves of the beech tree
    with a long rush and patter of water,
    first wave of the dark tide coming in.

    SOLSTICE
    On the longest night of all the year
    in the forests up the hill,
    the little owl spoke soft and clear
    to bid the night be longer still.

    THE WINDS OF MAY
    are soft and restless
    in their leafy garments
    that rustle and sway
    making every moment movement.

    HAIL
    The dogwood cowered under the thunder
    and the lilacs burned like light itself
    against the storm-black sky until the hail
    whitened the grass with petals.

     

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