As If New-Created by Gerda Blok Wilson, performed by Elektra

Elektra https://www.elektra.ca | Cassie Luftspring, Artistic Director
Support Elektra https://bit.ly/elektra_donate

Albertina Chan, harp
Jonathan Lo, cello
Katherine Watson, flute
Katie Rife, percussion
Stephen Smith, piano

“During a 2021 holiday at my daughter’s summer home in Cape Egmont, PEI, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, I discovered a copy of Longfellow’s Evangeline on the coffee table. Its opening lines, describing a moment of stillness in Grand-Pré (an historic Acadian settlement in Nova Scotia) before the tragedy of the Acadian deportation, inspired this work. Longfellow’s romanticized yet influential poem Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie (1847) shaped public memory of the 1755 Acadian Expulsion, becoming a lasting symbol of Acadian identity and resilience.”

– Gerda Blok-Wilson

TEXT:
Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape
Lay as if new-created in all the freshness of childhood;
Peace seemed to reign upon earth, and the restless heart of the ocean
Was for a moment consoled. All sounds were in harmony blended.
“Pax super terram, pax in profundo.
Peace upon the earth, peace in the silence below.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie (1847)

Composer Gerda Blok-Wilson’s website: https://gerdablokwilson.ca/