Category: Vocal Music / Art Song / Song Cycle
Instrumentation: voice, piano
Text / Source: Words by Cathal ó Searcaigh, translated by Nigel McGloughlin; Thomas Hardy

Songs:
Samhain 1994 (November 1994)
Text by Cathal ó Searcaigh, translated by Nigel McGloughlin

If You Had Known
Text by Thomas Hardy

Between the Shadow and Soul is a two-song cycle for voice and piano honoring the experience of lost love. Written in November 1994, the work brings together poetry by Cathal ó Searcaigh, in translation by Nigel McGloughlin, and Thomas Hardy, creating a concentrated emotional arc shaped by longing, memory, and regret.

The cycle’s intimate scoring allows the tenor line and piano to carry the subtle emotional weight of the texts. Through lyrical vocal writing and sensitive text setting, Baxter gives each poem a direct and expressive musical voice while allowing the two songs to speak as a unified meditation on love and loss.

Scored for voice and piano, Between the Shadow and Soul is well suited for art song recitals, vocal repertoire, and programs exploring poetry, remembrance, and lost love. The work calls for clear diction, sustained lyricism, and close attention to the emotional character of each text.