Exile
Program Notes:
Exile seeks to recreate a musical moment of sadness and depression from the loss of a loved one. Exile does not represent anger, denial or the stages of grief, only depression. The text resonated with me deeply with my own processing of grief.
Exile
By the sad waters of separation
Where we have wandered by divers ways,
I have but the shadow and imitation
Of the old memorial days.
In music I have no consolation,
No roses are pale enough for me;
The sound of the waters of separation
Surpasseth roses and melody.
By the sad waters of separation
Dimly I hear from an hidden place
The sigh of mine ancient adoration:
Hardly can I remember your face.
If you be dead, no proclamation
Sprang to me over the waste, gray sea:
Living, the waters of separation
Sever for ever your soul from me.
No man knoweth our desolation;
Memory pales of the old delight
While the sad waters of separation
Bear us on to the ultimate night.
If interested in performing this work, contact me at [email protected].