The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd

The text is Sir Walter Raleigh's response to The Passionate Shepherd by Christopher Marlowe; the two poems are worlds apart in their philosophical viewpoints. While The Passionate Shepherd is all about promises, promises, and more promises of constant daily joys in the sharing of love, almost to the point of frenzy, this work, in contrast, is serene and philosophically realistic, yet it seems to yearn for the idealism of the shepherd's promises. The music, with a flute obbligato that is both colorful and functional, is written in both a lighthearted and frenzied manner so as to deliver on the moods of the text.