Whispering of Fields Unsown

Description

Whispering of Fields Unsown captures the poignant essence of Wilfred Owen’s powerful poetry from World War I, especially the evocative text of “Futility.” Commissioned by a consortium of schools from the Western and Northwestern divisions of CBDNA, this piece gracefully balances the darker undertones of war with a profound sense of gentleness and beauty.

Program Notes

“Whispering of Fields Unsown” was commissioned by a consortium of schools representing the Western and Northwestern divisions of CBDNA. The piece serves as the second movement of my Symphony No. 8 and is intimately connected to the other three movements of that larger work. In particular, the final movement of the symphony is scored for band and chorus, with texts drawn from the writings of Wilfred Owen, a British infantry soldier in World War I, who wrote some incredibly powerful and striking poetry from the trenches before being killed near the end of the war. “Whispering of Fields Unsown” draws inspiration from the text of “Futility,” a poem which, although suggestive of the progression of Owen’s darker feelings about the war, somehow manages to maintain a sense of his love for his fellow man, remaining gentle and kind and beautiful in the face of desperation.

Futility (Wilfred Owen)

Move him into the sun—
Gently its touch awoke him once,
At home, whispering of fields unsown.
Always it awoke him, even in France,
Until this morning and this snow.
If anything might rouse him now
The kind old sun will know.

Think how it wakes the seeds—
Woke, once, the clays of a cold star.
Are limbs so dear-achieved, are sides
Full-nerved, still warm, too hard to stir?
Was it for this the clay grew tall?
—O what made fatuous sunbeams toil
To break earth’s sleep at all?