'In Your Sleep' from Three O'Sullivan Settings

Three O'Sullivan Settings with commissioned by New Music On The Bayou and premiered by Claire Vangelisti (sop.) and Rick Seiler (piano) at the Emy-Lou Biedenharn Recital Hall, Louisiana, USA.
Leanne O'Sullivan's Three Poems For My Husband is a beautiful and touching triptych, written when her husband was critically unwell in hospital. The poems were immediately appealing to me due to their imagery and intimacy, but also because of my interest in exploring healthcare experiences in music.
The moment the lark finally vanishes
into the spread green sky of the forest
is the moment you suddenly lift
your bruised arm up, over your body,
as though to show me the wing’s eclipse,
or the wing, or the season of your dream.
And even as your hand lapses silent
onto your chest, and your breath goes
sluggish, I am already watching your feet
prepare their slow first step under the sheet
as the last notes of sunlight fall quiet,
and you do not move again. My love,
are you a bird reviving in a summer field?
Was it the lark ascending that you heard,
a ghost among its shy-hearted tunes?
Yes. I heard the lark escaping, too.

[@OllieMortlock]

pretty cool chris

[@christophermortlockcomposer]

Thanks for listening!