The soul candle

Bowden, M. (2008) The soul candle. [Composition]

Abstract

For baritone and piano, duration c.10 minutes. The Soul Candle is a setting of selected poems from Gwyneth Lewis’s collection of the same title. Three poems are presented preceded by a short extract from the collection’s title poem, Soul Candles. After this short introduction, in which the poet speaks directly to the listener, the first song begins. 'One day, feeling hungry' makes use of some of the structural elements of the poem to create a tightly organised harmonic structure. This works its way towards a climactic piano ostinato at the line‚ ‘the brightness of others who had swallowed stars’ before slowly winding down and leading into the second song. The vocal phrases of 'Drought' cut across the formal structure of the poem as the music goes through several changes of tempo before ending with a series of widely spaced, glassy chords. The final song, 'Spring', begins with a cheery ostinato in seven-time before a darker middle section leads to a short concluding piano figure; an echo of the very opening music but this time without the poet’s, or singer’s, voice. A recording of this work performed by Gareth Brynmore John (baritone) and Andrew Matthews-Owen (piano) is available on Tŷ Cerdd Records here: https://www.tycerdd.org/taliesins-songbook

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