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The Cloak, the Boat, and the Shoes
This atmospheric, sensitive piece for solo SATB (or small vocal ensemble) with optional string quartet was written by Timothy Raymond for the 2017 Lower Machen Festival. The contemporary harmonic language, with distant echoes of Britten, Holst and Howells, and the delicate, often sensuous textures combine to make a work of considerable expressive power that perfectly captures the essence of W. B. Yeats’s poem. Around six minutes long, it is a welcome addition to the rich repertoire of British vocal music
The poem, from W. B. Yeats’s earliest collection ‘Crossways’ (1889), provided a key structural element of sound material for my score, composed as a tribute to Welsh composer Peter Reynolds (1958–2016) for a concert given as part of the Lower Machen Festival in St Michael and All Angels’ Church, Lower Machen, on 23 June, 2017. The vocal quartet and Mavron Quartet were conducted by Peter Esswood.
‘What do you make so fair and bright?’
‘I make the cloak of Sorrow:
O lovely to see in all men’s sight
Shall be the cloak of Sorrow,
In all men’s sight.’
‘What do you build with sails for flight?’
‘I build a boat for Sorrow:
O swift on the seas all day and night
Saileth the rover Sorrow,
All day and night.’
‘What do you weave with wool so white?’
‘I weave the shoes of Sorrow:
Soundless shall be the footfall light
In all men’s ears of Sorrow,
Sudden and light.’
Composer’s note, 2017
Forces may be augmented (ad libitum) or the score presented (a cappella) in a version without strings as shown in the second version (with keyboard reduction for rehearsal only).
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Sue Welch (soprano)
Version with string quartet
Music example, with string quartet (pdf)
