Mary Rae

Short Days Ago We Lived is a line from John McCrae's moving poem 'In Flanders Fields'. A somewhat larger context: We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. Reading McCrae's poem, it is difficult to fully imagine the tragic deaths and since so many of the young men were barely out of childhood and had no children, and would have no grandchildren, no future generations to think of them, this is the only way they can be honoured. To think of them, to remember the terrible loss, is to honour them. This is a simple and evocative piece in D minor for double bass and piano lasting just over two minutes. Short Days Ago We Lived was premiered on 13 June 2014 at St Thomas Church (Mamhead, Exeter) by David Heyes (double bass) and David Haines (piano). Mary Rae was born in Washington D.C. in 1951 and grew up in Virginia. She studied flute and voice in Boston and, at the same time, received a BA in Spanish Languages and Literature from Boston University. Mary has always been interested in composition, and devised for herself a course of self study. Aside from writing for double bass, she particularly likes writing for voice and piano and her works have been premiered in the United States, Great Britain and elsewhere. Mary Rae is currently involved in the revitalisation efforts for the Cherokee language, which is severely endangered, as most indigenous languages are. She has studied the language for a number of years, and recently achieved teacher certification from the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma, something which is rare for second language learners. Mary has been working at writing settings for Cherokee hymns with the aim of uniting two of her great interests.