Unwatch'd

An emotive work setting text from In Memoriam by Alfred Lord Tennyson – a requiem on the death of the poet's friend Arthur Henry Hallam that is set to reflect the grief caused by witnessing the effect of dementia on a loved one. Approximately 5 minutes in duration and commissioned by the Young New Yorkers’ Chorus Women’s Ensemble.

Programme Note

This piece embodies feelings I experienced the first time my grandmother looked straight into my eyes and did not recognise me. Her body is fit and well, but dementia has caused immeasurable damage.

The beginning of the piece recalls happy memories from my childhood with my grandmother. In the final section, the poem’s text returns in fragmented flashbacks: ‘And year by year our memory... our memory... fades... memory...’