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The Light Has Changed (2009)

Instrumentation: SATB chorus
Text: Louise Glück
Duration: 5’

The Yale connections behind The Light has Changed are many. My first serious engagement with poetry – including that of Louise Glück – came as an undergraduate at Yale, where Glück now teaches. The imagery in the poem resonates strongly with my memories of autumn in New Haven.

Finally, the musical language is informed by my rich experiences of choral singing at Yale. Indeed, the music is indebted to the great Fenno Heath (1926-2008) – longtime director of the Yale Glee Club – not least his wistful arrangement of September Song for the Yale Whiffenpoofs. The Light has Changed is dedicated to his memory.