music        news/events        bio        contact        recordings Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose 1988 piano duration 7'  first performance: Marti Epstein Boston University Concert Hall / February 27, 1989 SCORE The Girls Walk Down to the Foot of the Garden Their Feet Darken the Indigo Grass Lily's Blue Shadow In the House a Door Shuts Lighting the Lanterns Tiny Insects Buzz A Breeze Through the Hedge Frees the Scent from the Flowers PROGRAM NOTE Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose is a response to the painting of the same name by John Singer Sargent, itself named after a popular song of the day. This painting has appealed to me since I first saw it in the Tate Gallery in my early teens. I’ve imagined circumstances which may have surrounded the moment captured in the painting; two Edwardian girls in white smocks lighting Chinese lanterns at dusk in the midst of a garden of dark leaves, bluish lilies, and glowing roses and carnations, only slightly less bright than the lanterns themselves. In actuality the sitting for this painting was tedious and spread over many months, but I think I like my imaginary scenario better.