Chamber Works

Program Note:

H.D. (1886-1961) was an American poet most known for co-founding the Imagist movement with Ezra Pound. Much of her work, including “The Mysteries (Renaissance Choros)” draws on mythology and esoteric spirituality (influenced by her own syncretic upbringing) to create vivid worlds drawing equally upon Greek mythology, occult traditions, and Christianity, in turn, as a way to transcend the heteronormative social structures that trapped her and the ongoing global conflicts she witnessed through the creation of her own world. In her vivid yet austere poems, there's often a sense of genuine emotional weight being held back, creating even greater tension in expression. “The Mysteries Remain” sets the poem “The Mysteries (Renaissance Choros)”, written in 1931. The opening lines reflect H.D.’s awareness and anxiety of the state of the world: “Dark / days are past / and darker days draw near…” H.D. uses imagery from the Eleusinian Mysteries, an annual initiation ritual for the Greek agrarian cult of Demeter and Persephone, to mediate these feelings of anxiety, fear, and loss, culminating in rebirth. The Mysteries mirrored the story of Persephone and Demeter, beginning with Hades's abduction of Persephone to the underworld and Demeter’s search for her daughter, during which other gods initially refused to help her. Persephone (or Kore) was deceived into remaining in the Underworld for the majority of the year by eating three pomegranate seeds offered to her by Hades; Demeter’s anger and agony at her daughter’s absence caused droughts and famine on the earth, eventually persuading Hades to let her free for three months of the year. Persephone’s return to the surface, as allowed by Hades, becomes the spring and time of rebirth. In the poem, H.D. liberates Persephone from her male captor and creates more space for her rebirth, as symbolized by the return of spring:

“behold, / behold / the dead are no more dead, the grain is gold, / blade, / stalk / and seed within; / the mysteries / are in the grass / and rain”

Equally, not all is revealed to us as readers, listeners, or initiates in these Mysteries: something is always left unsaid. Persephone must always return to the Underworld, where she has regained some of her own power and become its queen; and she will always return to the surface and Demeter. Collaboration is at the heart of this project and manifests in several different ways. I first encountered H.D.’s work in the summer of 2022 while roaming the spookily silent shelves of the SUNY Stony Brook humanities library. A central figure of literary Modernism, she inspired my desire to develop a feminist perspective on Modernist attitudes. I set her poem “The Garden” for Asia Mieleszko (whom I had met the previous summer) for our first project together that year. After moving to Montréal and befriending Quatuor Mémoire, I dreamt of setting another of her poems in a larger piece for voice and string quartet. This wish came true much more quickly than expected and would involve Asia again, allowing me to continue the material threads begun in “The Garden.” Rebirth has been a central concern of mine since my 2021 ensemble piece “Triskelion,” and I keep reminders of the ability to repeatedly metaphorically die and be reborn very close to me. These ideas, as well as the tension central to austerity and latent emotional expression just below the surface, which sometimes makes itself heard, are frequent themes in my music and continue to explore new depths with each project. This piece also continues my lifelong mission to create my own worlds, much like H.D. No “AI” was used in the creation of any aspect of this piece or its accompanying notes. This piece is dedicated to all women who have been victimized by violence, and was composed for Quatuor Mémoire (Bailey Wantuch, Meggie Lacombe, Marilou Lepage, Audréanne Filion) and Asia Mieleszko with gratitude and friendship. I am also exceedingly grateful to soprano Rebecca Gray, who stepped in for the premiere on short notice.

— Hannah A. Barnes, December 2025

Commercial recording forthcoming Fall 2026.

Performance History

January 19, 2026 Quatuor Mémoire x No Hay Banda, La Sala Rossa, Montréal, Québec With support from No Hay Banda and the Ernst von Siemens Foundation Quatuor Mémoire (Bailey Wantuch, Meggie Lacombe, violins; Marilou Lepage, viola; Audréanne Filion, ‘cello) Rebecca Gray, soprano

• string quartet
• sop