Songs from Yellow Leaves

This
song-sequence, commissioned by the Richard Thomas Foundation, draws
its texts from a collection of 154 haikus by the poet Caroline Thomas
based on Shakespeare’s 154 Sonnets. I selected 33 of the haikus as
the basis for nine themed songs, five of which will be performed this
evening. The song-cycle moves through a range of emotions from love
to deceit and loss and grief. The title, taken from a line in one
song, signifies the completion of the cycle in Berlin in Autumn 2012.

In
Still
Standing a
powerful and purely selfless love is presented, a total devotion and
sense of constant renewal. Here the poetic references to nature –
waves, tides – strongly influenced the composition. That love has
suddenly disappeared with Collusion,
which
is full of bitterness and deceit. Attempting to forget, one feels the
heart break in grief in While
the bell tolls… The
poet’s use of colour and again, the references to nature, are
incredibly evocative.

In
Farewell
we
feel sadness and loss for what has passed. Sweet memories remain but
something darker lies under the surface. Coming full circle, the
beauty of love is still blazing in Old
Tales ever
renewed.