Programme Note Newfoundland poet John Steffler's book The Grey Islands is a sequence of prose and lyric verse pieces which tell the story of a man who leaves the mainland behind to spend a summer retreat on a remote and deserted island off the Newfoundland coast. This is a journey of discovery, his finding of place, his placing of self. Throughout the journey, he reflects on the Newfoundlanders he meets (Nels and Cyril) and thinks of his wife Karen and their children left behind in Ontario. For my musical interpretation of The Grey Islands, I chose thirteen pieces, alternating between prose and verse, in the order in which they appear in Steffler's book. They are arranged in a concentric structure, with #7 at the centre and the other pieces emanating out from there in such a way that #6 is parallel to #8, #5 parallel to #9, etc. This arrangement allows the musical and textual material in these parallel groupings to be contrasted and compared. The verse selections are sung by the Soprano. The prose pieces are spoken by John Steffler and others on tape (with the option of having them recited by a poet/actor or the Soprano live on stage). Although this work is firmly rooted in a specific cultural milieu (the Newfoundland that John Steffler and I have experienced for ten years now), I believe that the brilliance of John's text transcends these specifics and creates a moving portrait of Everyman's search for his identity. The Grey Islands was commissioned by the Webern Trio of St. John's through a grant from the Canada Council, and is dedicated to them. Movements: 1. the island 2. grey silk we sway on 3. I thought I was headed for silence 4. the unfamiliarity of the sounds of the sea 5. in this space and solitude 6. Nels 7. today a sadness in the light itself 8. Soul in Salt 9. what can we do in such elements? 10. the cemetery 11. things here flower in death 12. a strange shaking 13. a small crack first in the morning's spell The text of John Steffler's The Grey Islands is used by permission of McLelland and Stewart.

REVIEWS 1. The Performance of September 21, 1986, St. John's, Newfoundland. The Evening Telegram, September 24, 1986: Berni Yablon. After the intermission, Hart, Bendzsa and Higham returned with a new work commissioned by the Trio in recognition of the International Year of Canadian Music. They had given its premiere performance just two days earlier in Corner Brook where it had been warmly received. And we could see why. The Grey Islands by Newfoundland composer Michael Parker is a sequence of 13 settings of prose and verse pieces chosen from John Steffler's book. "They tell the story," writes the composer, "of a man who leaves the mainland behind to spend a summer retreat on a remote and deserted island off the Newfoundland coast. This is a journey of discovery, his finding of place, his placing of self". The verse selections were sung by Miss Hart, while the prose was spoken by the author and others on tape - the whole accompaniment punctuated and reflected by guitar and clarinet. It worked. And despite its very structured and tightly-regulated form, there was more spontaneity here than at any other point in the evening's proceedings. It also rekindled the audience's waning interest - cutting off the whispering and uneasy shifting that had been going on around me. Perhaps The Grey Islands touched a particularly responsive chord. "Music," wrote Alex Wilder, "can exist only if it reflects the inner life of humanity".   2. The Performance of May 24, 1987, Hamilton, Ontario. The Hamilton Spectator, May 25, 1987: Elma Miller. The Webern Trio opened the evening with Michael Parker's evocative The Grey Islands Op. 33 last night at a Canadian University Music Society concert at McMaster's Convocation Hall. The sense of isolation, solitude and loneliness of living in Newfoundland is aptly depicted in the sparse score. Parker's economical use of musical motives and quotes portioned thoughtfully between the soprano, clarinet and guitar evoked the mood of the words as well as serving as an effective backdrop for the taped voice of John Steffler, author of the book The Grey Islands, depicted the thoughts behind the piece.

Composer Michael Parker (third from left) discusses the score of The Grey Islands with performers (from left) Peter Higham (Guitar), Carolyn Hart (Soprano) and Paul Bendzsa (Clarinet) before the premiere performance of the work.

Performers Peter Higham, Carolyn Hart and Paul Bendzsa rehearse The Grey Islands prior to its performance in St. John's, September 1986.