In Her Image
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At its core, this work is a celebration of sisterhood as well as an exploration of individuality within a collective. Mirroring the text, written by poet Lauren Peat, and the journey of self-discovery it describes, the music evokes a sense of curiosity, longing, reflection, and continual growth – with folk-like melodies, interweaving lines, and gradual textural transformation.
The music and text of In Her Image were commissioned by PEI’s women's choral ensemble, Sirens, for their debut album Boundless released on November 13, 2020. It received it it's digital premiere on this same day accompanied by a video created by award-winning PEI filmmaker Millefiore Clarke.
Note from the composer Mirroring the poem and the journey it describes, through the music I tried to evoke a sense of curiosity, longing, and at times, uneasiness. To convey this, as the piece unfolds it explores a number of musical ideas and textures, all the while with a steady growing sense of unease underneath (as the search for "her image" continues). Eventually, she sees a glimpse of what she has been searching for somewhere unexpected. The music then begins to shift and settle as she discovers "her image" quite close to where she began her journey. — K.G. Note from the poet Every choir is by definition a collective, and therefore a community—of voices, of course, but also of personalities and occupations, of pasts, presents, and futures. A community, in short, of stories. The beauty of every choir, I think, lies in this fundamental contradiction: that it exists as both “one voice” and “many voices.” In Her Image is at once a celebration of sisterhood, in honour of Sirens Choir, and an exploration of what it means to be a unison of “one” and “many.” As with most of my writing, I had to walk through this poem in order to arrive at its ending; I too had to move through the garden, the glade, and the waterfall, in order to settle into the idea that togetherness is, perhaps, less a quest than an acknowledgment of what is already present. Togetherness might be something like a four-part, SSAA choir: a collective that recognizes its different stories, and lends its voice to celebrating them. A fountain that lifts many currents to form a pool that “glances back. — L.P. |
Duration
5'30"
Year of composition
2019
Voicing(s)/ensemble
SSAA with some divisi
Licensing
Purchase/view score
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