THREE SONGS FOR ANGUS

Three settings of Italian poets for baritone and piano

(1993)

11'

Angus Lindsay was the partner of my old friend, Martin Smith, who later took Angus’s last name as a tribute to him. Angus, who hailed from Australia, was a force of nature, and he travelled much in Italy, which was a passion for him, taking Martin along with him. After Angus died, of AIDS, in 1992, Martin arranged a tribute concert to him at the London Lighthouse in 1993, where he premiered these songs with Nancy Cooley.

The choice of poems was an attempt to channel the rage at Angus being taken from us so prematurely, as well as to remember and celebrate his energy, and to act as an elegy to him. The songs are dedicated to Angus’s memory, and to Martin. 

1. A Giovanni da Pistoia quando l’autore dipingeva la volta della Sistina, 1509 (To Giovanni da Pistoia, when the author was painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, 1509) Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) 

2. S’ i’ fosse foco (If I were fire) Cecco Angolieri (1260-c.1312)

3. L’infinito (The Infinite) Giacomo Leopardi (1798-1837)

First performed 14 November 1993 by Martin Lindsay and Nancy Cooley, The London Lighthouse, London W8,