For all the apparent lightness of the setting, coloured by a gentle melancholy, Summer Schemes as a poem carries the very hallmark of fatalism, personal insecurity, fear of commitment to the future. There may be feverish excitement at making plans for exploring the world of nature once summer comes, 'but who shall say what may not chance before that day'. In Her Song, the female voice tells of how a favourite song served her through bright and despairing days. In the simple, mildly chromatic accompaniment Ireland demonstrates once again that less is sometimes more. Weathers dances along in a jaunty triplet rhythm marked 'Allegretto pastorale', the song simply contrasting fair weather and foul.

from notes by Andrew Green © 1999