Conclusions

Though this piece is short, it certainly packs a punch. Much of the importance of the piece lies in how the music interacts with the poetry of the vocal line. The lyrics to piece, by Hildegard Jone, are as follows

What great delight!

Once more now all the green's unfurled and shines so bright!

An still the world is over grown with flow'rs!

Once more I in creation's portal live my hours,

and yet am mortal.

The poem suggests that the writer is so happy to be on earth and that beauty abounds. What a great place to live, in "creation's portal", the doorway to what came before and what is natural. the last line is where both the text and the music take a turn. With the line "and yet am mortal", the music slows and becomes markedly more eerie and less optimistic. The major 7th interval performed in the whispery voice of the soprano creates a very uneasy sense to the end of the piece.