Song Shards: From Darkness to the Light | Pegasus Choir

Pegasus choir presents the London premiere of Colin Riley’s Roads shining like river up hill after rain, a setting for choir and cello of poetry by Edward Thomas, a visionary writer who died 100 years ago in the trenches of the first world war. An acclaimed prose writer, Thomas turned to poetry only a few years before his early death. The title of the work is taken from a fragment of verse found on Thomas's body when his personal effects were returned to his wife:

Where any turn may lead to Heaven/Or any corner may hide Hell/Roads shining like river up hill after rain

Acclaimed nature writer Robert Macfarlane worked with the composer to fashion the libretto of the new piece from this and other fragments of Thomas’s poetry. The solo cello acts as an embodiment of Thomas as well as providing the sense of travelling through a landscape, with rhythmical suggestions of walking. It plots a melodic pathway, allowing the text fragments sung by the choir to act as viewpoints or reflections on the journey.

The concert includes other works that reflect on the themes of darkness and light, heaven and hell, grief and consolation, spanning the late 19th century to our own times. It takes place in the majestic and light-filled setting of St George’s, Hanover Square. St George’s is a historic church containing many artistic treasures and a special musical connection – one of its most famous worshipers was George Frederick Handel.