It is a moving work: the plangency of the keening is unbearable, the repetition is as insistent as the tolling of the death-knell.
The quartet's emotional journey follows a distinctive curve, from a whispered keening, to an impassioned lament, to a final eulogizing resignation.
Towards the end, the viola presented a memorably ardent cantabile rendering of the keening lament, brutally interrupted by tormenting tutti interjections.
A lamenting theme for keening oboes framed more flowing material, where a dream-like atmosphere was occasionally interrupted by the intervention of a 'garden gate' type bell.
Slithery rising and falling glissandi in strings and woodwind depict the writhing serpent, over which a keening oboe melody lets some light in on the score.
Arrangements are being made for the appointment of an extra teacher, and the local education authority is keening the accommodation position under review.
He has been criticised for keening his word.
I am not concerned with keening "life".
