Words for departure

for choir and orchestra​ Time: ca. 18'
Instrumentation: 2(II=picc).2(II=E Hn).2(II=B Cl).2 - 4.3.3.1 - Timp.Perc(2) - Harp - Pno - Strings
Availability: Direct all inquiries to hilarypurrington@gmail.com
Perusal Score: Movements 1 & 2Perusal Score: Movement 3
Program Note
Words for departure (2020) is a three-movement choral symphony featuring poetry by 20th-century writer Louise Bogan. Over the course of three poems, Bogan describes and reflects on the end of a romantic relationship.
I began Words for departure in January 2020 and composed throughout the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a society, we were reaching out to friends near and far and finding new ways to support and connect with one another. This project, which began as an analysis of an imagined relationship, turned into a meditation on the importance of investing in others and examining how we treat one another.
Premiere
Commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra in 2020; Premiered by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in November 2022.