Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Work Overview

This piece is a tone poem based on Miriam Wei Wei Lo's poem of the same name. It is part of a quartet of poems called "Fruit in Season".

There is a significant emotional arc in this rich and deeply human poem by Miriam. Like the grey winter sky, she expresses sorrow and humility by comparing her broken heart to a fragmented mandarin. Her emotional journey turns on the words, "Forgive me." The threatening rain, which had symbolised sorrow, now becomes a symbol of absolution: a release from grief that culminates in laughter as her children grab her legs.

The two musical themes in this piece reflect the poem's central images: the fragmented mandarin and the rain. The first is a predominantly upward-reaching theme that ends with a small downward-upward curve, expressing longing and vulnerability. The second is a descending theme that gradually gathers complexity, representing the approaching rain. The distinctive curved ending of the first theme returns near the end of the piece to mark the poem's turning point-the words, "Forgive me." This leads directly into the rain theme, which captures the next image: rain no longer as sorrow, but as thundering absolution.

As always, I am thankful to Miriam for her poem, as her work invariably carries a creative spark that ignites my own.

Work Details

Year: 2026

Instrumentation: Oboe.

Duration: 2 min.

Difficulty: Advanced

Dedication note: I am thankful to the Australasian Double Reed Society for commissioning this work, which led to a richly rewarding creative journey.

Commission note: Commissioned by Australasian Double Reed Society.