Premiered online in January 2023 by Maghan McPhee (soprano) and Valerie Dueck (piano) as part of the East Chamber Art Song Lab.
Instrumentation: soprano and piano
Duration: 3’30”
Program Notes: Christina Rossetti was a deeply religious poet and incorporated her Christian faith into many of her poems. While it does not contain any direct reference to God, her poem Who Has Seen the Wind? contains a double meaning. No one has seen the wind; neither has anyone seen God. But as we see the effects of the wind, we see the hand of God working in nature. The wind can take many forms, from a gentle, light, comforting breeze to a violent storm. God, also, is described as the one who can both create the storm and still it. I captured the extremes of the wind in this piece, from the gentleness of soft arpeggiated open chords to the turbulence of tremolos and rapid modulation, evoking a sense of mystery and awe and perhaps even fear. When the storm is over, peace and order are restored.
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