Autumn “A Day in Autumn”
Text: R.S. Thomas
© Elodie Thomas
It will not always be like this,
The air windless, a few last
Leaves adding their decoration
To the trees’ shoulders, braiding the cuffs
Of the boughs with gold; a bird preening
In the lawn’s mirror. Having looked up
From the day’s chores, pause a minute,
Let the mind take its photograph
Of the bright scene, something to wear
Against the heart in the long cold.
LILLY VADANEAUX
Flower Composer 2023
Autumn “A Day in Autumn”
Music: Lilly Vadaneaux
Text: R.S. Thomas
for solo soprano
from
“Seasons of Change”
commissioned by ELECTRIC VOICE THEATRE
with funds from
The National Lottery Heritage Fund & Hinrichsen Foundation
inspired by “Free Trade Songs” for the League Bazaar 1845
by Eliza Flower (1803 – 1846)
First Performance by ELECTRIC VOICE THEATRE
Conway Hall, October 27th 2023
Frances M Lynch – Soprano
When I came across this poem by R.S. Thomas, I was drawn to the ambiguity of ‘the long cold’ and the way Autumn is presented as a liminal space between the known and the unknown. I wanted to explore the multiple possible layers of meaning for autumn that arise from this ambiguity, encompassing memory and the passage of time. The piece, intimately scored for solo soprano, is quite introspective. Though the poem carefully avoids the use of the first-person pronoun ‘I’, we still feel as if we are viewing the scene through the eyes of an individual, in a still moment in time.
I was also struck by Thomas’ intensely beautiful description of nature and found inspiration in the paintings of glowing Autumn scenes by Eliza Flower’s contemporary, John Atkinson Grimshaw. Flower celebrates the beauty and freedom of nature in her ‘Free Trade Songs’, particularly in the song for summer, which depicts the joy of a brook ‘widening to the sea’. I took a melodic fragment from its melismatic vocal line of flowing quavers as the starting point for my piece, here representing the flowing of consciousness and memory.
You can see how the piece was performed in this video of the full cycle “Seasons of Change“. You will find ‘A Day in Autumn’ at approx 8’ 29”.
LILLY VADANEAUX
Flower Composer 2023
Where I started
When I was about nine, I auditioned for Junior Guildhall to study piano and composition. I had already been composing for a few years before that, but would write music in my head and didn’t really know how to notate it. At Guildhall where I went every Saturday, I had numerous inspiring and encouraging teachers who introduced me to so much music. I loved the whole experience so much that from quite a young age I never really considered any other career!
Where I am now
After ten years of studying at Junior Guildhall, I went on to study music at Cambridge University, and just graduated with a bachelor’s degree in June. Currently, I’m working as a pianist, composer and singer, and looking to do more study, at conservatoire, in the near future. I have a real love for working with text in my music and find that the words conjure up a specific feeling or emotion which translates into a particular sound world. It’s also so important to me to keep listening to and discovering new music, as this is what really inspires me to write above anything else!
Who inspires me?
I am constantly inspired by my musician (and writer) friends who are performers, composers, conductors etc. It’s amazing to be able to talk to them about their work, discuss their thought-processes and to compare notes. Aside from my friends, I recently discovered the contemporary composer Héloïse Werner and was very inspired by her innovative approach to using sound and language in her music, her creative programming in her concerts as a soprano, and also the fact that she works as a composer, soprano and cellist! I also try to go to as many concerts as possible, as nothing compares to experiencing live music. I almost always come away inspired by some aspect of the performance, whether it be the performers and/or the music itself.
