Programme Notes

. . . and there was . . . was written at the request of Susan Haig, music director of the Windsor Symphony, to be included as part of a large cycle of short works commissioned from a number of different Canadian composers. Each work represents its composer's response to the theme of the cycle, Morning Music.

For me, the hour or so before sunrise is a very magical time. The quiet stillness is profound and almost tangible. The colours in the sky change subtly and imperceptibly; only in fleeting moments does the progression surface into our conscious awareness. Our senses become heightened; a feeling of anticipation grows. Finally, as the sun appears over the horizon, what was once an enveloping darkness becomes ablaze with light.

The title is a quotation from the text of Haydn's Creation, "and there was light."