The Coming of Night
for Sextet (Flute, Clarinet, Horn, Violin, Viola and Cello)
Duration: 4”00’
Commissioned by BBC Radio 3 and the BBC CO for BBC Radio 3's 'Capturing Twilight' series.
The Coming of Night was premiered by members of the BBC Concert Orchestra and conductor Chloe Rooke on BBC Radio 3 Breakfast with Petroc Trelawny on October 25th 2021.
The piece is inspired by a poem by Emily Dickinson of the same title and it aims to explore the atmospheres, colours and images within her depiction of twilight and transition from sunset to night. The first lines of Dickinson's poem read:
"How the old mountains drip with sunset,
And the brake of dun!
How the hemlocks are tipped in tinsel
By the wizard sun!"
© Image copyright BBC Radio 3 & BBC Concert Orchestra