Today I would like to share with you a piano piece that I composed after a very inspiring walk yesterday afternoon.
I visited Doghouse Grove. This is the site of some old monastic fish ponds in Wilburton, Cambridgeshire. If you want to have a look at some photos I recommend visiting my nature blog. As I was wondering around the little site I could imagine monks coming here for peace, quiet, relaxation and, of course, to fish. I imagine they would have fished for food rather than exclusively for pleasure, but I don’t know enough about monastic ways of life to really comment on that aspect. The high twinkling melody lines in parts of this composition hint at the peace and quiet, the sound of birds, what I imagine the rays of sunlight would sound like as they falls through the trees, the bright colour of flowers and the joys of nature.
The piece starts in a chordal homophony. It imitates the sound of a cathedral choir singing. In this little motif I can hear the words Kyrie Eleison, pronounced ‘kyr-ree-uh eh-ley-son’. This means ‘Lord have mercy’ and is a common section in a mass but more importantly to this piece I can imagine the monks walking, relaxing, fishing and singing this. The little eight bar theme comes back in differing forms throughout the piece, as if various monks were singing slightly differing versions quietly to themselves as they enjoyed their solitude.
There is not much more to tell you about the piece that you cannot listen to. So without further words, please, take a listen:
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