'Still Falls the Rain' is perhaps Edith Sitwell’s greatest poem. Maconchy set the poem for double choir, unaccompanied, with some antiphonal writing. The recurrence of the phrase ‘still falls the rain’ throughout the poem isechoedin the music and helps to give shape and coherence to it. After the impassioned and tragic character of the main part of the poem, it ends on a calmer, even hopeful note (the Dawn after the Night raids perhaps).

Itwascommissioned by the Chelmsford Festival and first p...