Farness

Farness - three poems of Carol Ann Duffy - is an orchestral song-cycle for soprano with an important role for solo viola.  The three poems by Carol Ann Duffy are linked by the theme of thinking about a loved one being in a faraway land.  In the first, the thoughts are those of concern for the safety of the loved one; the second describes wanting to send something special - an unusual valentine in the form of an onion; and in the third, Penelope tells how she stitched and unstitched a textile scene while waiting for the return of her husband.

John Casken - July 2006