Edwin Morgan Sonnets

“These two sonnet settings, in much simpler forms than here, were originally part of my piano concerto. The presence of a male chorus within the concerto represents a kind of homage to Busoni, a composer whom I have always admired and whose piano concerto has a men's chorus in the last movement. I had used a chorus of Russian bass voices in my double bass concerto, so there is precedence within my own work. My choice of the poetry of the great Scottish poet Edwin Morgan alludes to my other work with male choirs, having already set six of his Sonnets from Scotland by this time. The two sonnets are heard in their entirety in the concerto, and one of them - The Solway Canal - gives a subtitle to the concerto, just as Kukol'nik's Farewell to St Petersburg gives a subtitle to the double bass concerto.” Gavin Bryars, 2012. Contents: The Solway Canal • A Place of Many Waters.