Bertie Baigent: An Echo from Willow-Wood: Chœur Mixte et Accomp.

The composer was drawn to the beautiful stillness and sadness of the poem by Christina Rossetti, which transcends its rigid sonnet structure, and allude via the epigraph to the mysterious Willow-Wood cycle by Christina'sbrother Dante Gabriel Rossetti. The music suggests a division of the poem into three stanzas, alternating with tranquil interludes (using the opening melody) representing the 'willow-wood' of the title, so that the listener isconstantly reminded of the gentle surroundings. As the intensity of the text increases, so does the astringency of dissonance in the verses, reaching its apogee just before consonance breaks through at the crucial phrase'onemoment joined'. The simplicity of the Vocal writing conveys the serenity of the setting, while simultaneously suggesting the austere melancholy of the lovers. An Echo From Willow-Wood was the winner of theStainer & Bell Award for Choral Composition 2015.