• pf
  • Soprano, Tenor
  • 7 min

Programme Note

ELM, takes its title from the poem by Sylvia Plath, was completed in October 1968. It was written while the composer was a student of Elisabeth Lutyens and is dedicated to her. It was the first of his works to be publicly performed.

The shape of the piece attempts to reflect the tense introspection of the poem. It falls into four short sections- two duets, enclosing solos for each of the two singers. The work is quiet and subdued in character at the beginning and remains so during the first duet, with the exception of two impassioned outbursts. Then follow two solo passages. In the last duet section the piece returns to the disquieting tranquility of the opening.

Brian Elias