Lay Your Flowers Down (2024)

for SSAA choir and soloists / commissioned by Lilith Vocal Ensemble

Grief doesn’t come in stages. It comes in waves, in moments, in memories that make you cry and others that make you laugh out loud. Grief folds time up into a tight square so that the before and after are mixed together, and every feeling comes tied up in another one. In “Lay Your Flowers Down,” two specific stories of loss are intertwined. The ensemble explores Waring Cuney’s heartbreak through his poem “Burial of the Young Love,” while the soloists reflect on my own reaction to losing a childhood friend. The piece uses cluster chords, careful phrasing, and quotations from familiar tunes to allow for some catharsis and, hopefully, a bit of peace.

Text adapted from “Burial of the Young Love” by Waring Cuney and “Eulogy for Maya” by Grace Coberly