Are not dreams far and away the strangest things in our lives?

Every night I have extraordinary dreams. Upon waking, whether or not I can recall anything about them, I know that they have done their work. They have re-knitted my consciousness, refreshed the perspective of my waking mind.

Often, I dream of rain coming through the ceiling of a room in our home which I rarely visit. (It is not actual; it exists only in my dream.)

The room contains thousands of books on shelves and on display, as in a public library or bookstore. They are books which I seem to own but which have not yet read. I look at the covers, the titles, the authors’ names and I am intrigued. I want to read these books!

I worry that the books might be damaged by the rain water. Perhaps they are, perhaps they are not. It’s never clear. I awake. Was it a good dream or a bad dream? I cannot decide. But I am relieved to know that, either way, “it was all just a dream.”

Such a dream is not unique to me, not in the least. I find something of the spirit of that dream captured in Walter de la Mare’s lovely, mysterious poem, “Rain.”

I woke in the swimming dark
And heard, now sweet, now shrill,
The voice of the rain-water,
Cold and still,

Endlessly sing; now faint,
In the distance borne away;
Now in the air float near,
But nowhere stay;

Singing I know not what,
Echoing on and on;
Following me in sleep,
Till night was gone.

I set it to music as part of a cycle of five songs on poems by De La Mare. Each poem includes the word “silver” so I scored the piece for mezzo, FLUTE and piano (the flute being silvery in appearance and in the lovely sound it makes). I wrote the cycle for my English mezzo friend, Diane Haslam, who sang it beautifully though, sadly, we never recorded her renditions.

I hope you’ll spare two and a half minutes to listen to another fine mezzo, Susan Olson, singing “Rain" from my “Silvery Songs.” (I regret that I did not note the names of the flutist or pianist who performed with her when this was recorded in concert and so I cannot acknowledge them). Click on the link above.

To see a PDF of the score, click on the link above.

I'd love to know what you think about this music; reply if you're inclined. But please don't feel that you are expected to reply. I'm just glad to share my work in this way.

As always, feel free to forward this message to friends who might enjoy it.

Anyone can be on my little list of recipients for these mpFrees (as I call these musical emails). To sign up, people can email me at rick@sowash.com, sending just one word: "Yes." I'll know what it means.

Rick Sowash
Cincinnati, OH
July 14, 2024