Stoke Fleming is a small hamlet on the English Channel. The text for this work is a secular meditation on the rocks and the waves written by the composer during a weekend stay there in 1978. The music was completed in January 2000 and received a reading by the Gregg Smith Singers at the Adirondack Festival of American Music in July 2000. The Coro Odyssea will present the world premiere of the piece in Portugal in late 2008.

Stoke Fleming

Stoke Fleming You rugged stone I am the crashing wave upon you Caressing your bold form I am the motion which surrounds you while you hold firm I roll upon you wash you and recoil You accept my touch and watch me go No I'm that crest there Pounding myself on the open beach Spreading over the sand I run out from my salty keep But fall back in again I fall away from land away from air I will sink out in and lose myself There