Tarik O'Regan: After Rain (Petrichor) - Vocal Score: SATB: Vocal Score

Threshold of Night (a setting one of Kathleen Raine's Three Poems of Incarnation) was commissioned by St John’s College Cambridge and was premièred under the direction of David Hill in the College chapel on 25th November 2006. Written for Advent the work aims to highlight the yearning that all societies have in their time of need for guidance from beyond their community. By coincidence however this composition was completed on the eve of 29th August 2006 one year after Hurricane Katrina one of the deadliest in the history of the United States made landfall in Louisiana. Looking at Raine’s words in this context (‘Go back my child to the rain and storm’ ‘I will not go back for sorrow or pain’) the poem can be seen to echo the conflicted and anguished thoughts of displaced New Orleanians. The original Advent sense ofdesired guidance takes on a specific if unintentional significance with regards to the tragic outcome of that hurricane; this is emphasized by the bluesinflectedharmonies found throughout Threshold of Night.

For SATB chorus Clarinet in B flat Percussion Harp and String Orchestra.Commissioned by the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition at Brigham Young University the Dale Warland Singers Commission Award presented by Chorus America and funded by the American Composers Forum and Utah Chamber Artists.First performed 30th April 2012 at the Libby Gardner Concert Hall University of Utah Salt Lake City by Utah Chamber Artists conducted by Barlow Bradford.Instrumentation.SATB chorus with divisionsSolo SopranoOptional Soprano Alto Tenor and Bass soli Clarinet in Bb(offstage) Percussion (1 player):    Tubular Bells Glockenspiel Large Bass Drum Large Suspended CymbalHarpString Orchestra (minimum 6.6.4.4.2 players)