Listen to excerpts:
1 Into my heart an air that kills
2 Oh, when I was in love with you
3 It nods and curtseys and recovers
4 You smile upon your friend to-day
5 Now hollow fires burn out to black
6 In the morning, in the morning
7 The sigh that heaves the grasses
8 When green buds hang in the elm like dust
9 I promise nothing: friends will part
10 Stone, steel, dominions pass
11 He, standing hushed, a pace or two apart
12 Into my heart an air that kills – reprise
Programme Notes
Just as I have been captivated by Whitman’s poetry, so the poetry of Housman inspired me to write a set, predictably called The Music of Housman; it was composed some time in the late 1970s. There was no prospect of a performance at the time. The final song is a modified reprise of the opening and provides a sense of unity to the cycle. Other composers have set these texts, although I have chosen some verses that are less familiar. I also wanted the music to be a little abrasive because I felt that some past settings of Housman had veered, to their detriment, towards the genteel.
Ronald Corp
