SONNETS WITHOUT WORDS

'When horn player Ben Goldscheider asked me if I had anything he could programme for a CD, I saw an opportunity to do what I’d longed to, for some years.
I have set many Shakespeare sonnets for voice and piano but have always felt that the long, languorous vocal lines could work well as purely instrumental - especially with Ben’s beautiful and lyrical timbre.
1. Mine Eye (1999), for mezzo-soprano and piano, was written as a Valentine’s gift for JS, the boyfriend of that time. JS was/is a great lover of visual art and this sonnet’s words conjure up a painterly portrayal of love – how the artist sees the emotion but still may not be able fathom what is felt behind a beautiful face.
2. Music to hear was commissioned for baritone Oliver Dunn and pianist Emma Abbate, by Peninsula Arts (Plymouth University), celebrating
Shakespeare’s 450th birthday. Its sentiments are bittersweet like my harmonic language. The poem is about a young man saddened by the cheerful beauty of music, because harmony and concord remind him of his obligation to marry and procreate.
3. Sweet Love Remember’d was a private commission - from Dora Black to her husband Jack, on the occasion of their 50th Wedding anniversary. Originally written for Alto voice, the accompaniment can be performed on harpsichord or piano. The words seem full of grief and desolation at the start but they end with a positive statement that tells us however low we have become, the memory of Sweet Love
“…..such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.” '
- Roxanna Panufnik, 2020

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