Program notes

Flock of Angels, opus 110a (2020)

A short setting of the following passage, ‘On Beauty,’ from Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet. The musical setting is transparent, dream-like and simple. The work is written for voice and cello and may be performed by mezzo-soprano or other low voice singer. The work was commissioned by Halcyon in 2020 who gave its on-line premiere in November that year during the COVID lockdowns.

Beauty is not the image you would see nor the song you would hear,

But rather an image you see though you close your eyes and a song you hear though you shut your ears.

It is not the sap within the furrowed bark, nor a wing attached to a claw,

But rather a garden for ever in bloom and a flock of angels for ever in flight.

 

© Andrew Schultz, 2020.