Compositions

The cycle, Songs of the Cotton Grass, evolved over six years with all texts by Welsh poet Menna Elfyn. These “reverse lullabies” -- in which a daughter lulls her mother to sleep -- recall the open, high moorland of South Wales, near the composer’s home. The first song, A Girl’s Song to Her Mother was written for mezzo-soprano Mari Morgan and premiered July 30, 1999 during a Celtic Weekend at the Pan-American Games in Winnipeg. The second song, Wings of the Grasses was composed for "A Garland for Presteigne” and received its first performance August 25, 2003 by soprano Gillian Keith with Simon Lepper, piano. In 2004 the “Girl’s Song” was slightly revised for soprano Janeanne Houston who recorded the two completed songs (on So Much Beauty, Elmgrove productions) and subsequently commissioned and recorded a third song, Vale of Feathers (on The Shining Place, Elmgrove Productions). – HT

A version for soprano and viola is performed here by Elizabeth Donovan, soprano; Matthew Jones, viola. (Audio excerpt is the beginning.)

Recording: CD Baby SO MUCH BEAUTY

The four poems which comprise the Arachne cycle were commissioned for the occasion by Hilary Tann from Guggenheim Award-winning poet, Jordan Smith.

The backdrop for Arachne is the myth as developed in Ovid’s “Metamorphoses”, Book VI, lines 0-145. The Latin quotation which separates the third and fourth songs is an adaptation of the last line of Ovid’s account. – HT

Arachne was commissioned from Hilary Tann in 1987 by Concerted Effort for singer/performer Julie Kabat, with funds provided in part by the New York State Council on the Arts.

Recording: Blue Griffin LA VOIX NUE

Between Sunsets was commissioned by the Strempel-Beaudette Duo for inclusion in an all-Cummings CD and was premiered at the 2012 Eastman School of Music Women in Music Festival in Rochester NY, March 29. Three poems by E. E. Cummings are set in a continuous cycle and the outer songs use some of the same musical material. The texts echo each other in mentioning sunsets, stars, and skies and are also united by greater senses of love. – HT

Recording: Centaur Records UNTO THEE I BURN: Song Settings of E.E. Cummings

Melangell Variations was commissioned by Jeremy Huw Williams and the Welsh Chamber Orchestra with the assistance of the Ralph Vaughan Williams Trust and Ty Cerdd. It was first performed at the Beaumaris Festival, May 28, 2018, by the Welsh Chamber Orchestra, c. Anthony Hose, with soloists Karen Coker Merritt and Jeremy Huw Williams. The composer writes:
"Several years ago it was my good fortune to be introduced to the Shrine Church of Saint Melangell, at Pennant Melangell, deep in the Berwyn Mountains of Wales. While there, I purchased a book of poems about St. Melangell, “The Hare That Hides Within,” and was immediately drawn to a set of six poems by former Welsh poet laureate, Gwyneth Lewis. I subsequently met Gwyneth Lewis and she graciously gave me permission to set three of these poems (I, II, and VI) as my own work of the same name, “Melangell Variations.” The words of Gwyneth Lewis capture the ancient story of a young female hermit whose grace and piety led her to shelter a hare in her robes while keeping a hunter’s hounds at bay. Melangell would eventually become the abbess of a sanctuary, now a place of pilgrimage. The titles of the three linked movements of the piece speak for themselves: I. The Story; II. Her Silence; III. A Cloud of Witnesses. As a composer I have been inspired by poetry, nature, and spiritual values. In “Melangell Variations” all three elements find a home." – HT

Melangell Variations was commissioned by Jeremy Huw Williams and the Welsh Chamber Orchestra with the assistance of the Ralph Vaughan Williams Trust and Ty Cerdd. It was first performed at the Beaumaris Festival, May 28 2018, by the Welsh Chamber Orchestra, c. Anthony Hose, with soloists Karen Coker Merritt and Jeremy Huw Williams. The composer writes:
"Several years ago it was my good fortune to be introduced to the Shrine Church of Saint Melangell, at Pennant Melangell, deep in the Berwyn Mountains of Wales. While there, I purchased a book of poems about St. Melangell, “The Hare That Hides Within,” and was immediately drawn to a set of six poems by former Welsh poet laureate, Gwyneth Lewis. I subsequently met Gwyneth Lewis and she graciously gave me permission to set three of these poems (I, II, and VI) as my own work of the same name, “Melangell Variations.” The words of Gwyneth Lewis capture the ancient story of a young female hermit whose grace and piety led her to shelter a hare in her robes while keeping a hunter’s hounds at bay. Melangell would eventually become the abbess of a sanctuary, now a place of pilgrimage. The titles of the three linked movements of the piece speak for themselves: I. The Story; II. Her Silence; III. A Cloud of Witnesses. As a composer I have been inspired by poetry, nature, and spiritual values. In “Melangell Variations” all three elements find a home." – HT

Mother and Son was composed for Mary Weigold's "Songbook" and first performed by Mary Weigold with the Composers' Ensemble, July 14, 1996, at the Almeida Festival in London. Welsh poet, R. S. Thomas, writes of a young man's yearning to experience the fullness of life. The music, scored for soprano and trio, reflects the young man's panting desire. Hilary Tann

The cycle, Songs of the Cotton Grass, evolved over six years with all texts by Welsh poet Menna Elfyn. These “reverse lullabies” -- in which a daughter lulls her mother to sleep -- recall the open, high moorland of South Wales, near the composer’s home. The first song, A Girl’s Song to Her Mother was written for mezzo-soprano Mari Morgan and premiered July 30, 1999 during a Celtic Weekend at the Pan-American Games in Winnipeg. The second song, Wings of the Grasses was composed for "A Garland for Presteigne” and received its first performance August 25, 2003 by soprano Gillian Keith with Simon Lepper, piano. In 2004 the “Girl’s Song” was slightly revised for soprano Janeanne Houston who recorded the two completed songs (on So Much Beauty, Elmgrove productions) and subsequently commissioned and recorded a third song, Vale of Feathers (on The Shining Place, Elmgrove Productions). Vale of Feathers opens with a slow, tolling figure inspired in part by the then-recent passing of Pope John Paul II in April 2005; the refrain “take me to the vale of feathers” echoes back to the first song of the cycle. – HT

(Audio excerpt is from an soprano/oboe version of The Vale of Feathers performed by Janeanne Houston, soprano; and Shannon Spicatti, oboe.)

Recordings: Arizona University Recordings OF ERTHE AND AIR; Deux-Elles SONGS OF THE COTTON GRASS; CD Baby THE SHINING PLACE

Text by composer. Lyrical/challenging. Oxford University Press (out-of-print – please contact composer)

Typically, moorland in Wales is to be found high on the central plateau. This is where the sky is close to the surface of the earth, and the surface consists of grasses, and mosses, and the occasional outcrop of lichen-covered granite. There is such a moor above the composer's home in Ferndale, South Wales. It is an ancient place of great bleakness and great beauty. The words of Welsh poet, R. S. Thomas, capture the hallowed quality of the Welsh moorland. Thomas' words directly inspired the piece and also suggested the use of additional text from the Vulgata. The Welsh hymn, "Rheidol", is echoed in the music and the piece ends with a quotation, in Welsh, from the words of the hymn. – HT

The Moor was composed during June 1997, in response to a commission from Mari Morgan and Eluned Jones of Tan-Y-Ddraig. Funding was provided by The Madog Center for Welsh Studies at the University of Rio Grande with the assistance of John Deaver and Elizabeth Gibson Drinko, and Evan E. and Elizabeth Davis.

Performed here by Cappella Clausura. (Audio excerpt is the beginning.)

Recording: Navona Records EXULTET TERRA: Choral Music of Hilary Tann

The cycle, Songs of the Cotton Grass, evolved over six years with all texts by Welsh poet Menna Elfyn. These “reverse lullabies” -- in which a daughter lulls her mother to sleep -- recall the open, high moorland of South Wales, near the composer’s home. The first song, A Girl’s Song to Her Mother was written for mezzo-soprano Mari Morgan and premiered July 30, 1999 during a Celtic Weekend at the Pan-American Games in Winnipeg. The second song, Wings of the Grasses was composed for "A Garland for Presteigne” and received its first performance August 25, 2003 by soprano Gillian Keith with Simon Lepper, piano. In 2004 the “Girl’s Song” was slightly revised for soprano Janeanne Houston who recorded the two completed songs (on So Much Beauty, Elmgrove productions) and subsequently commissioned and recorded a third song, Vale of Feathers (on The Shining Place, Elmgrove Productions). Vale of Feathers opens with a slow, tolling figure inspired in part by the then-recent passing of Pope John Paul II in April 2005; the refrain “take me to the vale of feathers” echoes back to the first song of the cycle. – HT

(Audio excerpt is from an soprano/oboe version of The Vale of Feathers performed by Janeanne Houston, soprano; and Shannon Spicatti, oboe.)

Recording: CD Baby THE SHINING PLACE

The cycle, Songs of the Cotton Grass, evolved over six years with all texts by Welsh poet Menna Elfyn. These “reverse lullabies” -- in which a daughter lulls her mother to sleep -- recall the open, high moorland of South Wales, near the composer’s home. The first song, A Girl’s Song to Her Mother was written for mezzo-soprano Mari Morgan and premiered July 30, 1999 during a Celtic Weekend at the Pan-American Games in Winnipeg. The second song, Wings of the Grasses was composed for "A Garland for Presteigne” and received its first performance August 25, 2003 by soprano Gillian Keith with Simon Lepper, piano. In 2004 the “Girl’s Song” was slightly revised for soprano Janeanne Houston who recorded the two completed songs (on So Much Beauty, Elmgrove productions) and subsequently commissioned and recorded a third song, Vale of Feathers (on The Shining Place, Elmgrove Productions). – HT

A version for soprano and viola is performed here by Elizabeth Donovan, soprano; Matthew Jones, viola. (Audio excerpt is the beginning.)

Recordings: CD Baby SO MUCH BEAUTY; Metronome A GARLAND FOR PRESTEIGNE