The Mower

The Mower is an art song set to Philip Larkin’s poem of the same name, where Larkin recounts an incident where he accidentally killed a hedgehog while mowing the lawn, and remarks on the emotional implications that follow. The text is brief and direct, but overwhelmingly profound. It was one of the few pieces of poetry that I have read in recent memory that stood out enough for me to immediately begin setting it to music. In this music, a very modal and jazz inspired harmonic language is communicated through sensitive piano gestures, and vocal lines move freely in potentially unexpected tonal directions. The pacing is slow and open, asking for patience from both the performers and audience. In this work, space is just as important of a musical element as the notated content of the piece. This is a slow burner that I hope does Larkin’s beautiful piece of poetry justice. I hope you enjoy. This piece was composed at the 2025 Del Mar International Composers Symposium.

Text:

The mower stalled, twice; kneeling, I found

A hedgehog jammed up against the blades,

Killed. It had been in the long grass.

I had seen it before, and even fed it, once.

Now I had mauled its unobtrusive world

Unmendably. Burial was no help:

Next morning I got up and it did not.

The first day after a death, the new absence

Is always the same; we should be careful

Of each other, we should be kind

While there is still time.