Come Away continues my abiding interest in paring down to musical fundamentals in search of strength and clarity of expression. The four performers articulate a sparse patchwork of quite simple, repetitive figurations. The singer sings, in French, words from the Song of Songs (‘Rise up, my love, and come away; for lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone, the flowers appear on the earth’ etc). Come Away describes a tentatively budding new life and love.

Come Away was written for Kürbis Ensemble and first performed by them at Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, February 2008.