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.
“The settings are bold and dramatic, operatic even. The seven poems deal with the various moods of the sea though with the emphasis on its violent side and that is reflected in the music. What I really like about the piece was that the vocal writing was as interesting as the piano part which is surprisingly rare in contemporary song. There are even passages where the vocalist is supported minimally or not all. This, unsurprisingly, doesn’t make for an easy sing and Colvin’s command of text and music was exemplary. Curiously, a couple of times I found myself thinking that at certain points the setting of the words was reminiscent of Britten. “Curiously” because the music doesn’t sound anything like Britten. Although maybe the piano part didn’t take centre stage here it was far from straightforward and was played with complete conviction by Philcox. In any event it’s a substantial piece and another extremely worthwhile addition to the canon of Canadian Art Song. CASP is delivering what it says on the box.”
– John Gilks, OperaRamblings.blog Read the Complete Review
Interview with Stephen Philcox, Dean Burry and Michael Colvin: