Song cycle for Soprano and Piano in four parts:
1. Lily and Monarch
2. The Bloom of Youth
3. Still
4. The Awakening
Performance History
May 1, 2009 – Simone Osborne and Andrea Grant at BCScene Festival – Ottawa, ON
May 17, 2009 – CBC Radio broadcast and interview (BCScene Festival)
Nov. 3, 2009 – Simone Osborne and Andrea Grant – Richard Bradshaw Amphitheater, Toronto, ON
Nov. 22, 2009 – Simone Osborne and Carrie-Ann Matheson – Marilyn Horne Foundation – Christ and St. Stephen’s Church, New York, NY
Dec. 5, 2009 – WQXR Radio broadcast, Simone Osborne and Carrie-Ann Matheson
Feb. 1, 2010 – Jane Long and Michael Park – Piano Lounge, Graham House, Green College, Vancouver, BC
April 9, 2011 – Kathleen Alan and Christopher Bagan – Ryerson United Church, Vancouver, BC
Jan. 27, 2012 – Jane Long – LSO at St. Luke’s – London, England
Mar. 23, 2017 – Jane Long and Jane Coop – Laura C. Muir Performing Arts Theatre, New Westminster, BC
October 27, 2023 – Simone Osborne and Gordon Gerrard – Vancouver, BC
March 22, 2024 – Susan Gouthro and Marie-Elise Boyer – Corpus Christie, TX
May 15, 2024 – Simone Osborne and Rachael Kerr – Toronto, ON
January 10, 2025 – Susan Gouthro and Marie-Elise Boyer – London, ON
January 16, 2025 – Martha Guth and Erika Switzer – Ann Arbor, MI
April 4, 2025 – Susan Gouthro and Marie-Elise Boyer – Providence, RI
October 20, 2025 – Martha Guth and Erika Switzer – Oxford International Song Festival, UK
Recording:
This recording does not reflect the revisions made to the 2nd, and 4th songs:
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Pronunciation of Farsi Poems:
Lily and Monarch – 1
Lily and Monarch – 2
The Awakening
Literal Translation of Farsi Poem:
In /goft-o-raft / tah /be /gol-e-khishtan /resid
This /said-and-left/ until /to /flower-of-his /he arrived
Avakh /ke /dahsht /shabpareh-y /bar sarash /gharahr
Alas /that/existed/a moth /by her side/placed
———————————————————————
Charkhi /be dor-e /gol /zad-o /omrash /be sar resid
a circle /around /flower/he made and /his life /came to an end
Sargarm-e /khish /bood /gol-o /hal-e /ou /nadid
busy with /herself /was /flower and /state of / him /did not see
——————————————————————–
Barkhiz /ke /miravad /zemestan
Rise /as /leaves (is leaving) /winter
Bogshay /dar-e /sara-o /bostan
Open /door to your /halls and /gardens
——————————————————————–
Ahshofteh /ze /charkh-e /doon /nabahshid
distressed /by /circle of /fate /may you not be
Hargez /nakeshid /ranj-e /hejran
Never /may you not suffer /pains of /separation