09 Jan When He Was Free & Young (1971)

mezzo-soprano & piano [6’]; words George Elliott Clarke; 2023. Commissioner: George Elliott Clarke Premiere: Laura Swankey and Juliet Palmer, The Canadian Music Centre, December 15, 2023. [audio mp3="https://www.julietpalmer.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Free-Young.mp3"][/audio]   Austin C. Clarke's “When He Was Free and Young and He Used to Wear Silks” (1971): Subtext I. Navigating the archipelago of rainbow lips and neon-lustrous nylons, plus islands of pepper in the Caesar, the reefs...