Walker, Lucy - There will come soft rains

Commissioned by St Martin’s Voices to mark Remembrance Day in 2024, 'There will come soft rains' showcases the range of the choir’s musical colour-palette through the repetition of the opening motif in several guises throughout the piece, from crystalline fragility to radiating strength. The text is profound; Sara Teasdale’s poem (subtitled ‘War time’) juxtaposes the tranquil cycle of nature and personified awakening of Spring against the suffering of mankind, with a simultaneous sense of comfort and unnerving indifference. Musically, this is evoked through a central moment of descent into harsh dissonance, from which the opening melody emerges, seemingly unchanged. Though the piece closes with a light, hopeful sound, there is an unsettling undertone.

There will come soft rains would suit experienced choral groups as a concert piece, particularly for occasions of contemplation, remembrance, war and peace, and perceptions of the natural world.