Alexander McCall Smith has written the words of these three haiku for Tom to set to music for wind quintet (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn) and voice:
You can see the whole score here.Love’s like rain, helpless In the face of physics’ rules Or gravity’s field. Love, when it descends Comes suddenly, no forecast Warns of its approach. Love over Scotland Falls like gentle tears of rain; Do not take shelter. You can see and hear a complete performance by Sirocco Winds here.
Tom writes: Setting the sparse syllables of a haiku was a new challenge for me. I decided to let the instruments anticipate the vocal writing, so “rain”, “rules” and “gravity” all have their musical equivalent in the first section. The middle section allows the horn to share the singer’s “love” whilst the final section tips its cap to McCall Smith’s reputation as a bassoon player. |
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