Fire-Flowers [6:00] 2018
Fire-Flowers, encompasses three different parts: The Fire, The Ash, The Rebirth, which flow one into another.
The Fire focusses on repeated text and rhythms, with percussive textures of the voice, and drone elements. Here we are placed within a chaotic and destructive forest fire.
The Ash audibly represents what happens after a devastating fire. Unpitched sounds represent the breaking of scorched branches and the low hum of extinguished fire.
The Rebirth is centred on beauty and new life. By the end of the piece, all the voice parts join together, singing homophonically, showing that they’ve reunited to “blossom once again”.
Fire-Flowers was a finalist in the Eastern Horizon Choral Competition by Choirs of Change. It was premiered on June 14, 2018 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Conducted by: Jack Bennet || Soloists: Rachael Delano and Spencer Gough || Audio Engineer: Rob Sneddon
And only where the forest fires have sped, Scorching relentlessly the cool north lands, A sweet wild flower lifts its purple head, And, like some gentle spirit sorrow-fed, It hides the scars with almost human hands. And only to the heart that knows of grief, Of desolating fire, of human pain, There comes some purifying sweet belief, Some fellow-feeling beautiful, if brief. And life revives, and blossoms once again.Fire-Flowers by E. Pauline Johnson is in the public domain.
Eastern Horizon Chamber Choir
Jack Bennet, Thomas Burton, Rachael Delano, Paige Louise, Spencer Gough, Caitlin Bowers, Joanna Burris, Shila LeBlanc, Rhian Merritt, Zoe Leger, Sanford Hare, Mary-Dan Johnston, Kate Anderson, Luke MacLean, Jessica Sharp, Nelle Callanan, Ryan Lowe, Ryan Henwood, Christina Jarvis Murray, Tamsin Michael Robson, Tim Mombourquette