Canadian Voices: How Good Will It Feel - Allan Gilliland and Jemma Hicken
In this week’s edition of Canadian Voices, Pro Coro sits down with Edmonton Composer Allan Gilliland and Singer/Songwriter Jemma Hicken to discuss How Good Will It Feel Gilliland’s setting of Hicken’s poem Like Honey premiering on Pro Coro TV.
Composer - Edmonton's Allan Gilliland
Poet - Edmonton Singer/Songwriter Jemma Hicken
What was your inspiration for the work?
“How good will it feel when time gusts around us once again To listen to the wind
To turn our stiff selves inside out
And notice where we bend”
Jemma Hicken: When lockdown first began, my partner and I moved from Edmonton back to the rural west coast to be with my family. I began my writing by thinking about the many things I've longed for during the pandemic, but the bulk of the poem came from the difference in noise levels between the city and the country. There are lots of references to sound - turning up my favourite song, listening to the wind, quiet rural beaches, how the quiet used to taste when I did find it in the city, etc...
Allan Gilliland: When working on choral music, my inspiration comes almost entirely from the words. In the case of Jemma’s poem, I was inspired by how she captured the suspension of time we have all felt during the pandemic. I wanted the work to be gentle, melodic, almost hymn-like, as I feel strongly we need as much peace and beauty during these extremely trying times.
Did you approach this text differently because of the parameters of the work?
“How good will it feel when I am right side up and outside in
When abstract hardens to concrete
And I still scrape my knees”
AG: The short answer is no. I think my success as a composer is largely due to my ability to write successful works while conforming to a variety of parameters like; difficulty level, instrumentation, style, and length.
How have you been experiencing writing in isolation? How has COVID-19 impacted the experience of being a writer?
JH: I think the pandemic has been a catalyst of change in most people's creative habits, so I feel lucky to say that I have felt more productive (at least creatively) than ever! As I alluded to before, silence - or rather, the sounds of nature - are some of my major creative propellers. I've been able to hunker down on the gulf island I grew up on (two ferries away from Vancouver Island, so it is truly quiet! Minus the occasional chainsaw and the big windstorms :)) I identify as a songwriter before a poet, and I've been able to write a ton of songs since March.
Pro Coro Canada Quartet (from left) Annette Martens, Jane Berry, Anthony Wynne, Andrew Malcolm
Michael Zaugg, Conductor
AG: It has been a challenge. I’ve realized that I’m the kind of composer that works to deadlines, and I’m not very motivated without them. I had so many commissions and performances canceled or postponed that I struggled in the first few months of lockdown to stay inspired. This commission was actually the project that brought me out of that malaise. It had such a tight deadline that I was kind of jolted back into creativity. I can’t thank Michael and the choir enough for taking the time to put this project together and to give me the incentive to write again.
How Good Will It Feel - Allan Gilliland
Like Honey
Text by Jemma Hicken
How good will it feel when time gusts around us once again To listen to the wind
To turn our stiff selves inside out
And notice where we bend
How good will it feel when I am right side up and outside in When abstract
Hardens to concrete
And I still scrape my knees
When the stillness feels like respite And the quiet tastes like honey
By then, we will have noticed the small things we love We will have picked up the smoothest pebbles From the quiet beach down the road
And stuffed them in our pockets.
We’ll find them later
On a lunch break
Or an airplane
When the stillness feels like respite And the quiet tastes like honey And time gusts around us once again.
Canadian Voices - Edmonton
Watch the entire Canadian Voices Series on Pro Coro TV
Coming Soon to ProCoroTV:
The Little Match Girl Passion
Sunday, December 13th 7PM MDT
Pro Coro's annual winter performance of David Lang's Pulitzer Prize-winning work "The Little Match Girl Passion"
The performance will start at 7:00 p.m.
