A Note From the Composer:
The Arrow and the Song is a beautiful poem written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, exploring the passage of time and the search for something lost. I (unfortunately) had never heard of the poem, that is until PJ & Rachelle Woolston brought it to my attention with the idea of creating a piece for Soprano Voice, Bassoon, and Piano that set its text to music. During my writing process, I decided to give each instrument a different role within the text, with the voice part being the speaker, the bassoon being the object in question (arrow and song), and the piano illustrating the air. At the time, this was the first text I had set to music in a long time, and it was very refreshing to do so! The Arrow and the Song was premiered by PJ & Rachelle Woolston in October of 2025.
