‘Night Runs Deep’, for men’s chorus and cello, was composed in the fall of 2011. The work is a setting of Dana Gioia’s translation of one of Eugenio Montale’s love poems from the Italian poet’s Mottetti.
In writing ‘Night Runs Deep’, I was deeply inspired by the beautiful phrases and imagery contained in Montale’s and Gioia’s poetry. Initially conceived as a work for a cappella men’s choir, I added cello as a means of heightening and highlighting the emotion of the text as well as to provide the opportunity for a conversation between the string instrument and the voices of the ensemble throughout the work.
‘Night Runs Deep’ was written for and commissioned by the USC Thornton Apollo Men’s Choir, led by Yohan Partan. The ensemble premiered the work in March of 2012 joined by Stella Cho on cello. Purchase the score on MusicSpoke http://bit.ly/1GUo2Un.
