LEGEND after “The Shadow of Cain”

This seemingly large- scale work was first drafted between March-April of 1978. It takes as its “subject matter” the poem The Shadow of Cain by Edith Sitwell. 

“The Shadow of Cain” is about the fission of the world into warring particles, destroying and self-destructive. It is about the gradual migration of mankind after the Second Fall of Man that took the form of separation of brother and brother, of Cain and Abel, of nation and nation, of the rich and the poor – the spiritual migration of these into the desert of the Cold, towards the final disaster, the first symbol of which fell on Hiroshima.” (Preface to Collected Poems by Edith Sitwell)

The piece is predominantly in minor keys but for the final section in the major. Perhaps this could be heard as a ray of hope, that our greater humanity will reign supreme in troubled times such as these. But for progress to happen of any kind, that would see kindness play its part, the process underway must play itself out for Love as we are meant to realize it to be given the chance to prove Life wrong. 

The pianist is Jeanell Carrigan.
The piano is a Fazioli.
Recording Engineer: David Kim Boyle

Recorded at the Verbrugghen Hall, Sydney Conservatorium of Music August/September 2017

Legend after The Shadow of Cain (piano)

Phillip Wilcher