DESCRIPTION:
One of four settings of poetry by John Keats (1795-1821) by the New York based composer Niccolo D. Athens (b. 1988).

World premier performance by Ian Howell and Matthew Stephens August 27th, 2009 @ the Staunton Music Festival (Virginia, USA).

Recorded on a Flip HD video camera and edited with iMovie HD.

http://www.ianhowellcountertenor.com

Text:
Nymph of the downward smile, and sidelong glance,
In what diviner moments of the day
Art thou most lovely? When gone far astray
Into the labyrinths of sweet utterance?
Or when serenely wandring in a trance
Of sober thought? Or when starting away,
With careless robe, to meet the morning ray,
Thou sparst the flowers in thy mazy dance?
Haply tis when thy ruby lips part sweetly,
And so remain, because thou listenest:
But thou to please wert nurtured so completely
That I can never tell what mood is best.
I shall as soon pronounce which grace more neatly
Trips it before Apollo than the rest.