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Gold on Every Cloud features a poem from Rabindranath Tagore’s Gitanjali, translated into English by the author himself. It is a paean to light—in which light symbolizes a kind of pure, distilled joy. The music features diatonic tone clusters, mimicking the “saturating” nature of the visible light spectrum, as well as sonorities that strongly suggest the (supposedly “bright”-sounding) Lydian mode. I composed it during a period of recovery from a major health-related issue—at the time, it felt very much like stepping into the light after a long time spent in darkness.

Gold on Every Cloud was written in 2022, and premiered at the 2023 National Conference of the American Choral Directors Association in Cincinnati, Ohio by the Cleveland Chamber Choir with conductor Gregory Ristow.

Light, my light, the world-filling light, the eye-kissing light, heart-sweetening light!

Ah, the light dances, my darling, at the centre of my life; the life strikes, my darling, the chords of my love; the sky opens, the wind runs wild, laughter passes over the earth.

The butterflies spread their sails on the sea of light. Lilies and jasmines surge up on the crest of the waves of light.

The light is shattered into gold on every cloud, my darling, and it scatters gems in profusion.

Mirth spreads from leaf to lead, my darling, and gladness without measure. The heaven’s river has drowned its banks and the flood of joy is abroad.

Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941)