Though it were Ten Thousand Mile

For Recorder Orchestra.
29 pages Score and 10 parts.

In 2020 the Scottish Recorder Orchestra under the conduct of Stuart Forrester commissioned a piece for their 40th jubilee. Due to Covid, it was not until September 2022 that this piece could be premiered.
I chose the beautiful poem THE RED RED ROSE of Robert Burns as the foundation of this concert fantasy.
The poem reads:

O my Luve is like a red, red rose
That’s newly sprung in June;
O my Luve is like the melody
That’s sweetly played in tune.

So fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I;
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
Till a’ the seas gang dry.

Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi’ the sun;
I will love thee still, my dear,
While the sands o’ life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only luve!
And fare thee weel awhile!
And I will come again, my luve,
Though it were ten thousand mile.

For some reason, this poem touches my heart very deeply.

I wrote to Stuart Forrester at the time:
"The subject of the piece is homecoming. Now, I know that this a real Scottish thing. Not only in this poem of Robert Burns. I know that it were especially Scottish who left their country and settled in America and Australia and all around the world. At the same time longing for their home. And now I migrated myself to Poland, and its a special feeling to be far from home and to return at times for special occasions. I hope that the joy of homecoming becomes clear through the music in the end. The whole minor part is the longing and mourning, and it is preparing for this big happy moment in the end."

I am very happy that during my visit in Japan in May 2025 my Japanese editor Tomoko Otsuki gave me the chance to record the piece with the workshop orchestra. I think it went very well.
Here is the link to the video:
https://youtu.be/ZE3jMH17UZY