This piece was based upon a poem of the same name by Canadian maritime poet, Bliss Carman. It is a celebration of the vibrant colours and free-spirited feeling that the autumn season can evoke:
“There is something in the autumn that is native to my blood.
Touch of manner, hint of mood;
And my heart is like a rhyme,
With the yellow and the purple and the crimson keeping time.
The scarlet of the maples can shake me like a cry
Of bugles going by.
And my lonely spirit thrills
To see the frosty asters like a smoke upon the hills.
There is something in October sets the gypsy blood astir:
We must rise and follow her,
When from every hill aflame
She calls each vagabond by name.”
Bliss Carman (1861-1929)
_____________
- Winner of West Coast Amateur Music Society competition, 2004; winner of the Association of Canadian Women Composers’ choral composing competition, 2005.
- Performed by DaCapo Chamber Choir at Open Ears Festival, Kitchener, Ontario, 1 May 2005
- Performed by Massey Choir, at Massey College, University of Toronto, Ontario, 22 November, 2008
- Performed by Northern Lights Chamber Choir, Armstrong, B.C., 29 February, 2012; Salmon Arm, B.C., 2 & 4 March, 2012; Sorrento, B.C., 11 March, 2012
- Performed by Vancouver Chamber Choir (Michael Zaugg, guest conductor), at Ryerson United Church, Vancouver, B.C., 20 April, 2018.
- Performed by Vancouver Chamber Choir (Jon Washburn, conductor), at Pacific Spirit United Church, Vancouver, B.C., 19 October, 2018.
_____________
Sheet music is available through the Canadian Music Centre.