Mnemosyne

Composers and audiences both rely a lot on memory. Whether it is an earlier theme, or an expectation that is met in an unexpected way, or writing in a style reminiscent of times past, we rely on memory to keep things straight. Fittingly, Mnemosyne, by the American poet Trumbull Stickney (1874-1904), is named after the Greek goddess of memory and the mother of the nine Muses. Stickney tells a story of remembrance and nostalgia, relying on our own memories and supplying us with more, with a refrain of homesickness.