Program NoteI love open-ended stories. I love it when authors end a narrative with some lose threads and I get to let my imagination run wild imagine what might happen after that final sentence of the book. Stevenson’s poem A visit from the sea is filled with unanswered questions and a mood of restless unease. It leaves us with more questions than answers. I poured this agitation into the piano’s right hand ostinato, which swirls like surf or the wind off the sea while dark octaves in the low register hint of something ominous. The directness of the poetry led me to a lyrical, folk-inspired setting for the singer, heightened through many phrases which end with an ascending line, suggesting uncertainty.
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Poemby Robert Louis Stevenson from Underwood
Far from the loud sea beaches Where he goes fishing and crying Here in the inland garden Why is the sea-gull flying? Here are no fish to dive for; Here is the corn and lea; Here are the green trees rustling. Hie away home to sea! Fresh is the river water And quiet among the rushes; This is no home for the sea-gull, But for the rooks and thrushes. Pity the bird that has wandered! Pity the sailor ashore! Hurry him home to the ocean, Let him come here no more! High on the sea-cliff ledges The white gulls are trooping and crying, Here among the rooks and roses, Why is the sea-gull flying? |