On the Hill-Side

Program Notes

"English poet and author Radclyffe (John; she went by both) Hall is most well-known for The Well of Loneliness, her lesbian novel which caused much scandal in 20th-century England and America. She herself was a lesbian and self-described "congenital invert.

"On the Hill-Side" is such a vulnerable poem—A true distillation of unbridled love. Hall's florid description of her lover, paired with the mixed emotions that come with that love, make a tumultuous feeling of excitement, which all occurs while her partner sleeps soundly.

My setting of this poem for SATB (with divisi) is a fairly traditional choral setting, apart from a free middle section, in which each singer sings or hums their line ad libitum."

Instrumentation

2fl., ob., 2bsn., 3Bb cl., b. cl., AATB sax., 3tpt., 4horn, 3tbn., euph., tuba, s.b., timp., percussion 1 (tgl., s.d.), 2 (b.d.), 3 (cr.cym., w.chimes), 4 (vib., s.cym.)

Premiered March 6, 2024 by Glass Winds Ensemble cond. Melissa Doiron and Pam Paddock. No recording available; want to be the first?