Notes on Love (2007)
Two Voices & Piano, 12'
- The First Meeting of Love
- Reverie
- Euphoria
- Loathing
- Rejection of the Beloved
- Obsession of the Rejected
- Death of the Beloved
- Epilogue
I composed the song cycle Notes on Love along with the poet and my old university friend, Adam Goodyer, back in the winter of 2006/7. The songs are snapshots of situations and emotions that love can give rise to, whether it be the heady mix of delight and anguish felt while pining for a potential lover from a distance, the bewitching spell-like joy a fresh romance casts over the everyday, the deeper rifts lying beneath a seemingly asinine argument or the ongoing blossoming of a loving relationship decades old. The brevity and ambiguity of the pieces invite the listener to consider for themselves whether the two singers are commentators, entrenched in relationships of their own or even singing about (or to!) each other.
The song cycle was premiered in February 2007 at St John's, Smith Square as part of a concert in aid of Cancer Research UK by sopranos Sarah Gabriel and Alice de Ville with pianist William Vann.