The Silver Silence

The Silver Silence was commissioned by Nadine Bratman for the choir of Muziekacademie Schaarbeek. The work sets Impression by Clark Ashton Smith, a poem whose moonlit garden of pearl, ivory and ebony suggested both its title and its atmosphere.

Clark Ashton Smith: Impression

The silver silence of the moon Upon the sleeping garden lies; The wind of evening dies, As in forgetful dreams a ghostly tune.

How white, how still, the flowers are, As carved of pearl and ivory! The pines are ebony, A sombre frieze on heavens pale and far.

Like mirrors made of lucid stone, The pools lie calm, and bright, and cold, Where moon and stars behold, In some eternal trance, themselves alone.