For those who live mainly in the city, the various phases of the moon can often pass us by: but in the country, away from street-lights, its waxing and waning has a clear influence on the night-time landscape. And in the past, when many communities were so much closer to nature, the moon signified the ebb and flow of the seasons.
For most of us as children, too, the wonder and mystery of the moon had an important part to play in our lives – who hasn’t stretched out their hand as the full moon seems almost within reach, or dreamed of witches appearing over the crescent moon?
There’s plenty of poetry about the moon – Shelley, Wordsworth, Emily Dickinson, Ted Hughes, Sylvia Plath – but I am particularly attracted to the traditional prayers and songs of the Hebrides, in which the moon appears often and was almost worshipped as a symbol of creation, and controller of the stars and of the seasons. Here’s an example of some lines from a couple of poems:
Hail to thee, new moon,
Guider of the sky,
Hail to thee, new moon,
Beauteous, fair one of grace.
May thy light be clear to me,
May thy course be smooth to me,
Fair moon of the seasons.
My song, ‘New Moon’ sets these words to music, for upper voices (Soprano and Alto) and piano. It’s a simple and gentle melody, which appears three times, first in unison, then in the altos with the sopranos singing a descant above, and finally in the sopranos with an alto part beneath. Each verse is in a different key, which give a sense of direction in the music as we move to the climax in the last verse: here the final line (‘Fair moon of the seasons’) is repeated several times, gradually getting quieter and bringing us back to the key in which we started.
I have written several other songs about the moon (including ‘Song to the Moon’, and ‘Sun, Moon, World’), and written instrumental pieces in which the moon has a part to play (just search ‘moon’ on my website): and in this particular one I think I was aiming to suggest the moon’s 28-day cycle and the inevitability of the changing phases, mirroring the inevitability of life itself.
The song was written as part of a longer work – ‘Pictures of Night’ which was commissioned by Essex Music Services for a concert which brought several choirs together, and this upper voice song appeared alongside songs for young children and for a mixed SATB choir. This is the original version, and I subsequently made a version for SATB choir.
May the moon shine bright for you!
Scrolling score of New Moon (Upper Voice version)
Scrolling score of New Moon (SATB version)
Scrolling score of Pictures of Night (complete)
Purchase details, etc. of New Moon
Purchase details, etc. of Pictures of Night