A simple, expressive piece in my own freely-tonal style, this meditation (like my 3 African Songs) is an outgrowth of my work for my Master's thesis composition, The Shrine of Kotje, in 1974/75. The third section of that earlier choral/orchestral piece is built upon a poem called "Diptych" by the Senegalese poet, Birago Diop. The poem describes the African savannah, blazing hot and silent during the day, black and silent at night, and always mysterious, with hints of sounds in the stillness. Its melody, in turn, is derived from an Ivory Coast folktune, and I thought it was so expressive that it cried out not only for its choral setting, but also to be played on a cello.

    It is a work of special lyricism, employing rich romantic chords and with a section in the middle in quartal harmonies. It is available on a CD entitled Brief Confessions Brèves, issued by the Edmonton Composers' Concert Society, performed by Eve Egoyan, piano and Margaret Gay, cello. BTW, that performance is embedded into this page, so if your sound is turned on, you should be hearing it.