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This moving piece was inspired by the poem Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep by Mary Elizabeth Frye, and the chromatic effects – rippling, glistening droplets of sound shaken by the rumbling of far-off thunder – may remind listeners of Debussy. Fragile, trembling spaces between the notes poignantly capture the experience of loss from which there is no returning.

John Dowland's 'Go, crystal tears' and 'Flow, my tears,' the two settings subtly and delicately arranged for string quartet by David Bruce.

David Bruce’s The Consolation of Rain lingers most in my memory. Scored for oboe, cello, percussion, and harp, this score captures the consoling effects of listening to rainfall. A kind of restlessness permeates the first of its five movements. But that gives way to a gentle rush of harmonies as the work unfolds. Pulses grow from light pitter-patters to a full-on wash of sound in the fourth movement. The work ends calmly, conveying the Zen-like serenity that served as Bruce’s inspiration. Musicians Nancy Dimock (oboe), Sarah Rommel (cello), Matt Sharrock (percussion), and Madeline Olson (harp) played with hushed momentum to make a compelling case for this music.