Sea Variations (2019)
Song Cycle for tenor and piano
text by EJ Pratt
I. Morning
II. Masks
III.The Destroyer
IV. In Retreat Part I
V. In Retreat Part II
VI. Re-born
VII. The Dead Calm
For a number of years, Canadian Art Song Project and I have considered the possibility of working together. The company is a national leader in the commissioning and performance of new Canadian art song. The result of this project is the song-cycle Sea Variations for tenor and piano, with texts by poet E.J. Pratt (1882-1964). Like myself, Pratt was a Newfoundlander transported to Toronto and I find a tremendous amount of resonance in his words. Much as with my music, Pratt strived to translate the essence of the wind, water and people of the East Coast into a universal experience. His words are evocative, witty, devastating and cathartic.
The cycle contains seven songs reflecting the selections in Pratt’s complete poetry cycle Sea Variations (published in 1922). These are titled Morning, Masks, The Destroyer, In Retreat (in the song-cycle this poem is divided into Part I and Part II), Re-born and The Dead Calm.
Dean Burry
April 22, 2019
Sea Variations was commissioned by Canadian Art Song Project, Toronto, Canada and
Was premiered by Michael Colvin, tenor and Steven Philcox, piano at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre of the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts on May 23, 2019.
Sea Variations was commissioned with generous support from the Ontario Arts Council’s Music Commissioning program.
