I Am Joyful and Blessed

Conductor Notes:

For SSAA Choir, violin, and piano

Commissioned by Elektra, Morna Edmundson, Artistic Director, in celebration of Russell Smith, with the generous support of Elisabeth and David Finch.

Text Source

Elizabeth Finch

Note from the poet:
This poem was written in the course of an email exchange that I had with Russell Smith shortly before he died. My husband David and I had visited Russell and his wife Gillian at their house on Bowen Island in June 2022. Russell had been playing tennis and we spent a wonderfully chill afternoon, sitting on the deck with such a beautiful view, just chatting. We had no idea that it was the last time that we would see Russell.

I kept in touch with Russell by email after that visit. His emails were all upbeat and positive despite telling me, on August 5, that he had only weeks to live. One of his emails included these words:
"I find it curious that some people do not believe me when I tell them how lucky I feel. I suspect you are one of those who will instantly “get it”- that I am not playing around with childish emotions and that I do feel I have been given many blessings."

I was strongly inspired to honour Russell’s unique spirit with a new commission for Elektra. Failing to find a poem that captured this extraordinary sentiment I decided to see if I could write something and this simply came to me.