This piece is based on my desire to hear a choral setting of the famous WWI poem by John McCrae that incorporates more dissonance in the music. War being an experience that is beyond horrible, especially the trench warfare of WWI when this poem was written, I have always felt that setting this poem is an opportunity to explore some more intense dissonance. Thus, there are some very gnarly chords in the work, which will surely cause some difficulties in learning the piece. The performers are encouraged to really lean into the dissonances; war isn’t pretty and the performance of this work should never be described as pretty either.

Check out the Cantabile Singers of Kamloops‘ virtual choir recording: