as flower, as fire

as flower as fire (2020)

Duration: approx. 11 minutes

as flower, as fire was composed in response to Beethoven's 'Waldstein' Sonata, Op. 53, and the work which was once destined to be the Sonata's middle movement, the Andante Favori, WoO 57. 

The title is taken from the following Sara Teasdale poem, which appears in her collection 'Flame and Shadow':

Let it be forgotten, as a flower is forgotten,

Forgotten as a fire that once was singing gold,

Let it be forgotten for ever and ever,

Time is a kind friend, he will make us old.

If anyone asks, say it was forgotten

Long and long ago,

As a flower, as a fire, as a hushed footfall

In a long forgotten snow.