Passage

Passage was composed in February 2023 for Robertson’s last Florida student Matthew Holbrook. When Matthew asked me to compose something lyrical for his Senior Recital, I didn’t hesitate a second since he had moved all the way from Florida to Arkansas to study with me! Passage is sort of a story of Matthew’s path since arriving in Arkansas. It begins with two slightly conflicting ideas followed by a unison melody that is symbolic of our lessons and friendship. New melodic lines speak to each other as if having a conversation and later intertwine and cross over each other. I somehow managed to overlap two wonderful hymns in this work. A slightly altered All Things Bright and Beautiful and Jean Sibelius’ theme from Finlandia also known as Catharina von Schlegel’s German hymn Be Still My Soul. Later the work presses on and is symbolic of someone on a mission to graduate and soon get married. There are hints of wedding bells, a marching band and a tiny hint of Barbara York’s A Caged Bird. – Gail Robertson