Friday evening at Heliconian Hall saw the second of two performances of Confluence Concerts’ Sighs Too Deep For Words: A Canadian Valentine.  It was an all Canadian concert featuring songs and spoken word including two world premieres and a performance of Omar Daniel’s 2005 piece Neruda Canzones.

The spoken word pieces, read beautifully by Alison Beckwith, ranged from Lucy Maud Montgomery to Margaret Atwood.  Some pieces straightforwardly celebrated romantic love and others came at it a bit sideways!  Songs by Canadian composers were well represented With Derek Holman, Jeffrey Ryan and John Beckwith all represented.  Anaïs Kelsey-Verdecchia performed (with Christopher Bagan) her own setting of “The Lark in the Clear Air” and Patricia O’Callaghan gave us her setting of “Some by Fire” with Chris again at the pianio, Andrew Downing on bass and a backing group.  So many styles!  No-one could say that Canadian music is samey or boring.

The Neruda Canciones are substantial pieces.  There are four songs in Spanish.  They were presented here each read in English by the composer with an electric guitar riff from Eero-Daniel Raum followed by a Spanish sung performance by Patricia O’Callaghan complete with tambourine.  After the first song Patricia was joined by Jonathan Stuchbery on lute and a backing group for the choruses with some interventions from Dion Mazerolle and Anaǐs.  This is a pretty dramatic cycle, especially the last song “El Tigre” and it got a suitably passionate performance.

And so to the premieres (both commissioned by Confluence).  Anika Venkatesh sang their own poem Fluidity to music by Francesca Hauser with Chris Bagan at the piano.  It’s quite a complex sort of allegorical invitation to love and it’s quite touching.

Michael Spiroff’s Zazoruva sets four poems in Macedonian by Aco Šopov.  “Kvečerina” (Nightfall) treats “stone” as a metaphor for “sleep”.  It’s a gentle introduction, quite “pastoral” in feel, scored for a five voice chorus and piano.  “Ako Ti Nedostasuva Svetlina” (If There Isn’t Enough Light For You) is more dramatic with jazzy elements, a prominent solo part for Anaïs and bass joining in.  “Pesuata I Godinite” (The Song and the Years) is in a similar vein musically but is even more driven with a real sense of momentum.  For the finale; “Budenje” (Waking) we are back with chorus, piano and bass in a jazzy, bouncy number that leaves the darkness of night and sleep behind.

There were two or three other songs I haven’t mentioned in this fascinating and well balanced programme.  I think I’ve name checked all the performers with the exception of the one indispensable one; Larry Beckwith, who curated the programme and chipped in at numerous places with voice and violin.

It was a pretty excellent evening enjoyed by a packed house despite the frightful weather.