David Herbert Lawrence (E)
fl.cl-vln.vla.vlc
Abbreviations (PDF)
Boosey & Hawkes
Life’s Splinters
I’ve long admired the poetry of D H Lawrence, in particular some of the shorter writings which are touching in their simplicity. This song cycle draws on six poems, the first five of which are linked by their animal and plant subjects, with heavy anthropomorphic overtones. The final poem, Piano, is well known (and much set), and is a beautiful evocation of childhood memory.
The six songs are set continuously, with instrumental interludes providing a connection between them. There are also some particular thematic ideas which are interwoven throughout all the songs, especially a chordal passage for the viola and a rapid proclamation from the clarinet. These ideas are mostly separate from the vocal line, and there is a conscious distancing at times of the voice from the rest of the ensemble, culminating with the fifth song, I Am Like A Rose, where the tenor sings unaccompanied. I tend to avoid word painting as such, although it was hard not to let a few ‘insects’ invade the first setting, The Mosquito Knows nor to completely avoid glints of light hitting the waves in Little Fish, perhaps one of his most delightfully succinct poems! The longest song in the set is the last one, and despite much of its introspection, reveals the most emotion. The instrumental ensemble often appears aloof to the tenor’s part here, though they all come together at the movement’s (and perhaps the work’s) most passionate moment.
David Horne, February 2007
Reproduction Rights:
This programme note may be reproduced free of charge in concert programmes with a credit to the composer
"Linked by blanched, yearning, viol-like broken chords from the viola, and decorated by Ravellian flashes and flourishes for flute and clarinet, this was an exquisite, sympathetically written work, sung ravishingly by James Gilchrist, most particularly in the gentle unaccompanied setting of I am like a Rose."
Independent on Sunday
"A finely detailed, witty setting of verse by DH Lawrence."
Evening Standard
"Musical and verbal language constantly reflect each other in Life’s Splinters, with biting observations of a mosquito, a honey-sweet song of love as an awakening bee, and bright flashes of aquatic light in Little Fish."
The Times