The Garden

The Garden is a cycle of five reflective studies for piano inspired by the poem of the

 same name by Andrew Marvell. The pieces may be performed as a complete cycle, 

each moving to the next without pauses in between.

 Stream, the first piece, presents a tranquil, gradually unfolding melody which is left

 hanging at the end, as if the observer of the scene is looking into the distance along

 the stream as it progresses. The running water is suggested by the left hand figuration, 

giving an opportunity for song-like shaping of the melody.  

Garden’s Delight presents a change of mood with its lively beginning and contrasting

 episodes. 

Repose, as its title suggests, is a reflective piece with a melody that grows from a single

fragment. This is a song without words and its melodic nature continues through the 

chords in the latter part of the piece. 

Garden is the only piece in the cycle with irregular time signatures, and again presents 

tranquil, gradually unfolding ideas. Like the first piece, the end leaves us suspended, this 

time looking not at the stream but at the wonders of Marvell’s Garden. 

 A Walk in the Garden begins with a flowing, solo melody with quiet interjections 

reminding us of the second piece in the cycle. The melody is interrupted with quiet 

chords, gradually unfolding, eventually giving way to a hymn-like setting of the melody 

hinted at the beginning.