CHAMBER MUSIC voice + quintet
1 mezzo-soprano, 1 flute, 1 clarinet, 1 violin, 1 cello, 1 piano

Duration: ca. 15 minutes
Composed: 2004

Programme Note: Sur les pas de la lune was commissioned by the CBC for Rose Marie Van der Hooft and the Winnipeg Chamber Music Society.  It sets the text of postwar French poet, Philippe Jaccottet**.  The poem contains wonderfully rich symbolism that is very elemental – moon, water, earth, grass – and a timeless message of overcoming the obstacles in one’s life.

The setting is for the most part slow, soft, and contemplative.  The voice is used in a vocalize style at the beginning and end.  When the voice enters with text, she is completely alone.  It is really an ensemble piece where the voice weaves in and out of the texture as an equal instrument.  

**Sur les pas de la lune, excerpt from L’ignorant, by Philippe Jaccottet, © 1957, Editions Gallimard.

Premiere: First performance by Rose Marie Van Der Hooft and the Winnipeg Chamber Music Society, January 25, 2004

Sample:
Score Excerpt [PDF]