Program Notes:

"Take off my gown, let down my fiery hair,
do with me what you've wanted, have your will.
Nothing will change though you possess me whole.
All you engender in me time will kill.
Time the assassin shadow at the door
that sniggered as you entered, time the sill
on which you set your watch just now, the wall
you lean against, the ceiling and the floor.
Time is the house you're born in and it's here
we'll burn to the bittersweetened end, my dear.
The rafters are lit already, see the fire
lick at the sheets I lie inside. Don't fear,
the flames won't touch you, we've been through this before
night after night. You know my name, remember?

- Todd Hearon

In Greek mythology, Mnemosyne was the mother of the muses and the goddess of memory. This evocative poem reflects on the transient nature of memory – the way memory is continuously consumed, something that cannot live on into the future because of its impermanence. Each line of this sonnet ends with a masculine ending – except the final line (“remember”), which fittingly leaves the poem unresolved. In setting this text to music, I was captivated by the themes of power/powerlessness, fire and flames alluding to the phoenix, and the monotony, repetition, and destructiveness of time.

The poem “Mnemosyne” was first published in The Cincinnati Review, and the musical setting was later commissioned by the publication. The piece was premiered by Ian Greenlaw (baritone) and Brianna Matzke (piano) in July of 2016 at Interlochen Arts Camp. "