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I Wonder (2002) |
For solo soprano, SATB chorus, harp, organ and strings - c.14'
This work completes my Christmas Triptych , which was begun in 1996 with an arrangement of Adolphe Adams' Cantique de Noël , and completed in 1998 with The Carnal & the Crane . The middle carol was originally a chamber orchestra arrangement I made of I Wonder as I Wander (1997), a song familiar to music lovers on both sides of the Atlantic as an Appalachian folk tune. In 1998 however, as I prepared the programme notes before the first complete performance of Christmas Triptych , I discovered to my shock and surprise that the work was, in fact, written - not collected (in the 1930's), by John Jacob Niles (1892-1980). In the subsequent and protracted negotiations with G. Schirmer it became clear Niles' material could not be used. As a result I created a new composition, I Wonder . The text was inspired by a school project my 6-year-old son did at Kentish Town Primary School, London in 1992. Each child in his class was asked to complete the sentence: “I Don't Understand…” I Don't Understand…
how the world began with nothing
how houses just don't fall down
how things can disappear in magic tricks
how a chick grows inside an egg when there's not much space
how you can see yourself in a mirror
how numbers carry on for ever
or how the sky doesn't end. Toby Montague (age 6),
Kentish Town Primary School,
London, 1992
Notes © Stephen Montague