Alliance Music Pub

Lyrics: Francis Ledwidge
Composer: Ivo Antognini
Editor: Desmond Earley
Format: Choral Octavo
Voicing: SATB with Oboe

Darkness and I are one, and wind

And nagging thunder, brothers all,

My mother was a storm. I call

And shorten your way with speed to me.

I am Love and Hate and the terrible mind

Of viscious gods, but more am I,

I am the pride in the lover's eye,

I am the epic of the sea.

- Francis Ledwidge (1887 1917)

"WAR is the first of three pieces that I wrote for the UCD (University College Dublin) Choral Scholars, directed by Desmond Earley. This "Irish Trilogy" centres on three key elements: War, Peace and Aimhirgin. This setting for mixed choir and oboe is taken from a beautiful poem by Francis Ledwidge. I composed the piece on the Greek island of Tinos, where I have vacationed in the summer for many years. While War is a poem that speaks of darkness, storm, and thunder, Tinos is quiet and peaceful. Actually, the poem had nothing to do with what I was experiencing in Tinos --- namely sunshine, wonderful weather, the quiet sea and peaceful atmosphere! Yet, the final sentence of the poem is: I am the epic of the sea, and this quote is definitely in tune with Greece. The Greek sea was quite helpful and inspired me greatly." - Ivo Antognini