Work

Programme Note

This work sets a poem by New Zealand poet Ruth Gilbert. The poem is in two verses – the first having a questioning and searching tone, while the second presents the resolution. Love is at the centre of the text: for it is love that is the “rose that will not die” and the “house not made with hands”.
The text begins:
Find me the rose that will not die,
The tree no axe can fell,
The spring no Summer’s drought shall dray,
And this last miracle: …

Text Note:

Poem by Ruth Gilbert

Influences:

• Love

Dedication:

For David Gordon and the choirs of Diocesan School for Girls (Auckland)