About the piece

Winner of San Francisco Choral Artists “New Voices” Competition 2012

“How quickly the season of apricots is over-
a single night’s wind is enough.
I kneel on the ground, lifting one, then the next.
Eating those I can, before the bruises appear.”

A setting of Jane Hirshfield’s poem “Speed and Perfection” from her collection “Given Sugar, Given Salt. The music imitates the rushing of the night wind, and the flurry of leaves, while the harmonies evoke the sweetness of fruit. I dedicate my setting to my mother, with whom I have many happy memories eating, procuring, and protecting apricots.

Listen

Instrumentation

SATBB; SAB

Duration

1 minute 30 seconds

year written

SATBB (2010); SAB and piano (2020)

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