Au Clair De La Lune

Commissioned by The Chor Leoni Choral Society as part of their 2023 C/4 Competition

This piece opens with the darkest colours and the most distant glimmer of light. There’s a breathless and desperate, almost suffocating, paroxysm on the words, “On n’y voit qu’un peu” (One could barely see) that claws its way into the incendiary chord in the phrase, “On chercha le feu” (We sought the fire). While the music asserts to us the way forward, it lacks the capacity to sustain itself. Instead, it capitulates and we’re left to search for a different kind of fire – a more gentle and carnal one. The choir ends up finding this fire and, in a massive conflagration, burns their way out of the night to the light on the other side