Taking Thomas Hardy's short story as its starting point, we are transported to the present for a contemporary take on the novella which explores the power the mind can have over that person's actions. A closed door sparks an obsession so strong that the boundaries between reality and fantasy begin to blur.Ella and her high-finance husband Stephen rent a room in a holiday home on the coast, owned by Susan. Ella discovers that a locked room in the house is rented by a poet - Ben Pascoe - whose work holds a deep fascination for her. The room is held for Pascoe, though he visits rarely.Ella's obsession with Pascoe grows in parallel with the progress of Stephen's biggest City deal. She begins by imagining the poet's voice as she reads his work, but this quickly grows to fantasised encounters with Pascoe in his locked room. Stephen returns from the City and makes love to Ella, but it is not him she wishes for. We see the real Pascoe only once, with Susan.As Stephen's financial dreams are realised and Ella's fantasy consumes her, she learns of Pascoe's death. Despite her changed circumstances, Ella chooses to stay in her new world. / Voix Et Piano

It was to her teacher Henri Busser professor of counterpoint at the Conservatoire de Paris that young composer and organist Henriette Roget (1910-1992) dedicated in 1934 the Four French Ballads composed to the poetry of Paul Fort (1872-1960). Nicknamed “the northern cicada” by Mistral this friend of Verlaine Mallarmé and Apollinaire began his career as a symbolist playwright at the Théâtre des Arts before deciding to focus exclusively on poetry. His French Ballads mingled popular feeling creative fantasy and rhythmic elasticity – an alliance that would inspire musicians as diverse asHonegger Caplet and Brassens. Roget detested works of bravura and bombastic grandiloquence; Paul Fort’s verse provided fertile material for her inclination toward sincerity spontaneity and unembellished lyricism. In “Le Bonheur” “Il nous faut aimer sur terre” “Si le bon dieu l’avait voulu” and “Le Diable dans la nuit” the music translates the beating of hearts and the vibrations of light with a delicacy and a naturalness that brush the very depths of the soul. Through each of these pure crystals a precious gift shines: the art of suggestion. I. Le Bonheur II. Il nous faut aimer sur terre III. Si le bon dieu l’avait voulu IV. Le Diable dans la nuit  

The Percy Jackson Musical - Vocal Selections-A dozen vocal selections are included in this songbook featuring music and lyrics by Rob Rokicki for his off-Broadway musical adapted from the 2005 fantasy-adventure novel of the same name. Includes: 'Bring on the Monsters' 'D.O.A.' 'Drive' 'Good Kid' 'Killer Quest!' 'Lost!' 'My Grand Plan' 'Prologue/The Day I Got Expelled' 'Put You in Your Place' 'Son of Poseidon' 'Strong' 'The Tree on the Hill'.