Though I speak
Tim Watts
Première: June 2012, Madingley
Composed by Madingley's Musician-in-Residence for Ishirini's Jubilee concert, Though I speak is a setting of one of the most quoted passages in scripture, 1 Corinthians 13. There is much arresting imagery in St. Paul's letter which is played out in the piece, and the paramount importance of love in the text is reflected at a deep structural level. The variety and vibrancy of the choral writing sustains interest in this substantial a cappella work.
Tim writes:
"St Paul’s famous letter to the Corinthians is a masterpiece of rhetoric, which contains many of the most resonant passages in all scripture. Arresting imagery brings his vision memorably to life, and his argument assumes overwhelming emotional force through the rhythmic momentum generated by (often threefold) repetition. However, despite his manifest verbal skill, Paul opens with a warning against eloquence without love.
In my setting of these words I have aimed to retain a sense of Paul’s words as speech. The tenors begin by taking on the role of an orator whose words gradually spread among the other voices. Two portions of text receive especially extended treatment. A passacaglia (based on a four-note descent) conveys love’s patience and long suffering; I liked both the older form of words, “Love suffers long” and the newer, “Love is patient” so I used both here. The idea of knowledge “in part” receives a fugal treatment in which the line is shared between the different vocal parts. Love’s paramount importance is enacted musically by magnifying the structural weight given to the word, “love” in the text, and, ultimately, by leaving behind spoken grammar to focus on repetition of this word, alone."
