The Lake Isle takes its inspiration from W.B. Yeats’ poem “The Lake Isle of Innisfree”, from which four lines are quoted in the score. The piece captures both the sombre note of the “pavement grey” and the contrasting optimism of the poet’s idyllic retreat, the “Lake Isle” itself. There is a clear Celtic flavour to the music, both in its pastoral mood and in the rhythms of the mischievous middle section, which acts as a foil to the darker lament beneath the surface.
I will arise and go now, for always night and day I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey, I hear it in the deep heart's core.
- from The Lake Isle of Innisfree by W. B. Yeats
Listen
a short excerpt
Sample Pages
