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Secular Choral

Orchestral & Instrumental Material for Choral Pieces

Edward Harper

"And winds, austere and pure:"

Piano duet parts on hire

978-0-19-336738-8 10 November 1993

Price: Available on request

for SATB chorus and piano duet

Forces or Category

SATB & piano duet

Duration

15 minutes

Difficulty

Easy to Moderately difficult

Programme Notes

for choir and piano duet
1. Blows the wind today - Robert Louis Stevenson
2. Inversnaid - Gerard Manley Hopkins
3. The Solitary Reaper - William Wordsworth
For this work, commissioned to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Scottish Chamber Choir, I have chosen three contrasted evocations of Scotland, one by a Scot in a distant land, the others by two distinguished visitors. Blows the wind today is also my own tribute to Stevenson, since 1994 marks the centenary of his death.
These extracts from Stevenson (Edinburgh 1878) demonstrate one aspect of his ambivalent attitude towards his native country - in particular to the Edinburgh climate in which he was brought up:
'For all who love shelter and the blessings of the sun, who hate dark wather and perpetual tilting against squalls, there could scarcely be found a more unhomely and harassing place of residence... And yet the place establishes an interest in people's hearts... go where they will, they take a pride in their old home.'
Stevenson spent the last seven years of his life in Samoa, in a climate more suited to his delicate constitution, but where he wrote this heartfelt poem about his native country. In setting the poem I have used sparse textures, the choir sings only in octaves or unison throughout. Only at the words `My heart remembers how!' and `Be it granted me to behold you again' does the harmony in the piano expand expressively.
I have tried to match the strength and vigour of Hopkins' description of the mountain burn with fast moving, resonant, and hard-edged chords in the piano, marked to be played tumultuoso. The choral writing is brighter here but I have again used relatively sparse textures in the voices (the working is mainly two part) to try and give an impression of strength and resonance.
In the Wordsworth setting I have given the narration to the men. The women, divided throughout, have a wordless vocalise with hints of my idea of a Scottish folk tune.
© Edward Harper
Reproduced by permission of Oxford University Press

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The specification in this catalogue, including without limitation price, format, extent, number of illustrations, and month of publication, was as accurate as possible at the time the catalogue was compiled. Occasionally, due to the nature of some contractual restrictions, we are unable to ship a specific product to a particular territory. Jacket images are provisional and liable to change before publication.

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