Last year (2024) I continued my work on setting text by the American author Conrad Aiken (1889 – 1973). I chose verses from three poems included in his epic collection Time in the Rock: LXV, XLI and XCI, and then edited them to suit the structure of the music I was imagining. References to light, time and remembering predominate.
The Light Absent is scored for soprano, vibraphone, cello and piano, an orchestration I used in a previous work – To Immortal Bloom. The piece lasts approximately 11 minutes and is in four movements, played without pause.
- We Do Not Know (1:40)
- In The Clear Light (3:15)
- You Will Not Remember (2:00)
- In Stillness (4:05)
The recording below was made on August 24, 2025 in Walter Hall at the University of Toronto. The performers are: Lindsay McIntyre, soprano; Hoi Tong Keung, vibraphone; Emma Schmiedecke, cello; and Gregory Oh, piano.
Engineering, Editing and Mastering were by R & R Audio (Ray Dillard and Randy Crafton).
The piece is scheduled to be published by Keyboard Percussion Publications in early 2026.
