Incantata for Chamber Ensemble
I.Perplexities
II. Nocturne
III. Ireland Remembered
IV. Bitter-sweet
V. Coda
Incantata for Chamber Ensemble was inspired by Paul Muldoon’s poem, Incantata, written in memory of the artist Mary Farl Powers. The poem, published in The Annals of Chile (1994), is both an elegy and a celebration. The premiere was October 30, 2011, at the Touhill Performing Arts Center, University of Missouri-St. Louis.
“I was drawn to the many feelings and emotions in the poem, the cry of heartbreak, enduring love, humor, pathos, giddiness, allusions to music, literature, art, liquor and food.” The premiere performance interspersed a reading of the poem with the four movements of Incantata for Chamber Ensemble. Written for flute, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, piano, violin, viola, and cello.