Lachrymae - Osian Ellis

Standard: Advanced      Harp Type: Pedal Harp

This harp solo was written at a most distressing time while Llinos was being treated in hospital for cancer and while her mother, Glynis, sat with her, day and night, for three weeks, until her death in November 2018 at the age of thirty nine. But her daughter, Elin (13), in spite of her loss, happily, still sings like a nightingale around the house, and appears content.

Lachrymae - literally "Tears" is an ancient title, and was used by John Dowland while quoting his song: "Flow, my tears". Benjamin Britten also wrote a "Lachrymae" for viola and piano (which I also played on my harp with Cecil Aronowitz at the Philharmonie in Berlin, and with Peter Schidloff at the Aldeburgh Festival). Curiously, I fell upon the title "Lachrymae" only after I had completed my score.

I urge my harp to be aggressive and cruel in the first section, reflecting stress and pain; the harp glissando reflects the ebb of life and is followed by a death-knell and the consequent Dorian "L'envoi", leads us to the forest grave at Boduan. The Dorian Mode prevails as we meditate simply on a song - "O wailing wind, have you also lost somebody who loved you".

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