A Dark Gaze Bathed in Light (2010)

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The New York City-based  Phoenix Concert Series commissioned A Dark Gaze Bathed in Light for violinist Anthea Kreston to premiere in March 2010. The title refers to a line from Richard Dehmel’s poem Verklärte Nacht (“Transfigured Night”), which inspired Arnold Schoenberg’s well-known composition. In that text, a man and a woman walk together through a dark wood as she confesses that though she loves him, she is carrying another man’s child. Her companion listens to her story and absolves her of any guilt, declaring that his feelings for her will transform the child into his own. The words “Her dark gaze is drowned in light” comprise the last line before the man speaks and seem to represent a turning point, encompassing both the woman’s despair and the man’s redeeming love.