The Hound of Heaven
The Hound of Heaven
The Hound of Heaven is an instrumental classical work made up of five movements closely following the emotional arch of the famous five stanza poem of the same name by Francis Thompson which was written in the late 19th Century. It is highly programmatic and is scored for bassoon, string quartet and double bass.
The poem describes a fantasy chase where the hero (bassoon) is pursed by God, the menacing hound of heaven (lower strings). He flees through the wind-swept heavens, dances giddily with mother nature but then falls into the depths of despair until finding unexpected reconciliation.
......To all swift things for swiftness did I sue;
Clung to the whistling mane of every wind.
But whether they swept, smoothly fleet,
The long savannahs of the blue;
Or whether, Thunder-driven,
They clanged his chariot 'thwart a heaven.......
"...as Coventry Patmore noted, The Hound of Heaven is one of the finest odes in English literature.
