This work composed for Children's Voices and String Quartet was commissioned by the Young People's Chorus of New York City. Conductor's score and String Parts are available from the Publishers.My text is extracted fromRodney Livingstone's translation of a short essay by the German cultural historian Walter Benjamin (1892-1940). It was written between 1914-15 during a metaphysical phase before Benjamin embraced Marxism. This text emphasises theyoung person's as opposed to the adult's approach to colour: 'for the person who sees with a child's eyes it marks boundaries it is not a layer of something superimposed on matter as it is with adults'. This work continues myinterest in art-based texts - from 'The Kiss' (1985) to my opera 'Facing Goya' (2000/02)© Michael Nyman 2003