Afterword

Afterword, for mezzo-soprano and piano completes my “cycle of cycles” on word sonnets by Seymour Mayne. This project began with Hail, commissioned by Doreen Taylor-Claxton in 2003 and continued with On the Cusp (2014) for baritone and piano, and Wind and Wood (2022), written for Yanik Gosselin. Afterword was written for Whitney O’Hearn, who you can hear on my 2013 cycle, Of Glad Love. For this cycle, I selected nine poems from Seymour Mayne’s collection Pilot Light.

Afterword was premiered on March 27, 2025, by Tina Alexander-Luna, mezzo-soprano, and Rachel Andrist, piano at Darke Recital Hall in Regina. The recording is from that concert.

If you just want a nibble, start with 9. “Afterword”. If you want a bigger nibble, work backwards: Listen to 8-9, or 6-9. 6 and 7 continue without a pause.