Composer
cello & piano
3 min. 20 sec.
This piece was conceived as a miniature chamber work for cello and piano, and the title, “Merely a Mockery of Spring”, was inspired by a line of poetry in a cycle of poems about winter by American poet, Robert Pack. The work was performed and recorded with support of the Canadian Music Centre’s BC Region in summer 2023.
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Sheet music is available through the Canadian Music Centre.
beaches, babes, heads, cafes—
each faded, deaf,
each sees seas— ages,
ages, faded, dead
Anagrams for November was written especially for the Vancouver Miniaturist Ensemble. The alto flute spells out the musical anagrams of this collection of words (in concert pitch), while the viola provides some counterpoint, creating a breathy dialogue between the two parts.
The piece was edited again in 2017, to create a new arrangement for tenor recorder and violin.
Sheet music (for both versions) is available through Syrinx Press:
https://elizabethknudson.ca/syrinx-press
‘The Brain’ was written for tenor voice, bass clarinet, and piano, with text based on a poem of the same name, by American poet, Emily Dickinson. It was premiered at Simon Fraser University Theatre (Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada), in March 2003.
“The Brain—is wider than the Sky—
For—put them side by side—
The one the other will contain
With ease—and You—beside—
The Brain is deeper than the sea—
For—hold them—Blue to Blue—
The one the other will absorb—
As Sponges—Buckets—do—
The Brain is just the weight of God—
For—Heft them—Pound for Pound—
And they will differ—if they do—
As Syllable from Sound—”
Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)
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Sheet music for this piece is available through the Canadian Music Centre.