Is there no seeker of dreams that were? - Sarah Lianne Lewis

Is there no seeker of dreams that were? (excerpt)
Excerpt taken from 'Is there no seeker of dreams that were?', performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Bangor Music Festival, 4th March 2016, and later broadcast on BBC Radio 3 (April 2016), and BBC Radio Wales (June 2016). Is there no seeker of dreams that were? is inspired by the poem 'New Dreams for Old' by American poet and dramatist Cale Rice Young (1872-1943). Originally set as a piece for soprano and piano, there were elements in the poem that suggested a longer, orchestral interpretation of the lines, exploring the journey through the poem of loss and grief, and finally towards hope. The title of the finished work is taken from last lines of the first verse of the poem: ‘All of them, all, would I give for a new one. / (Is there no seeker / Of dreams that were?)’, which conjures up imagery of wisps of forgotten or lost dreams being collected and preserved in a space unknown.