dark, and dreary

for Solo oboe (2024)

Duration: 3:00 (never weary, 0:45; the mouldering Past, 1:10, sun still shining, 1:05)

Inspired by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s ‘The Rainy Day’

The day is cold, and dark, and dreary;

It rains, and the wind is never weary;

The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,

But at every gust the dead leaves fall,

And the day is dark and dreary.

My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;

It rains, and the wind is never weary;

My thoughts still cling to the mouldering Past,

But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast,

And the days are dark and dreary.

Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;

Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;

Thy fate is the common fate of all,

Into each life some rain must fall,

Some days must be dark and dreary.