To Comfort Me

Across this collection of four art songs setting five poems of Matthew Galbraith, the singer compares comforting and frightening aspects of the world, ultimately turning toward God as the answer to the questions raised by these juxtapositions. “Beatus” opens with bell-like gestures that seem to summon the singer to morning prayer. As this prayer continues, it becomes increasingly passionate, and the “bells” that close the movement only put a halt to the prayer for the moment without fully resolving its plea. But the prayer seems distant later that day in “In the Garden,” where the singer focuses on the cheerful comfort of tending directly to the Earth. Just as distant as the prayer are the dangers and temptations of the world, but the singer cannot avoid considering them before finally reaffirming the natural beauty of the garden. That night, the singer hears (or dreams of) “The Train,” a distant figure whose lonesome whistle simultaneously unites it to the singer (though only for a timeless moment) and summons an inexplicable loneliness in the singer as well. With little warning, that loneliness is answered by menacing material that appears multiple times within “Once—To Comfort Me.” The singer’s conviction that God will respond to the pleas that were never truly answered in “Beatus” is challenged, especially as the singer is reminded of the frailty of the human condition. But after a wordless musical interlude, the singer’s faith is reaffirmed, and the piece surges toward an overwhelming, triumphant conclusion.