dirait_on cooper rasha Went to go see Eric Whitacre and Morton Lauridsen tonight at Carnegie Hall - Senior Chorus got free tickets, since our gig got cancelled. I had seen most of the pieces performed by the same mix of high school/college/professional singers at Avery Fisher last spring, but it was great to hear Whitacre’s stuff again, and I hadn’t heard Morton Lauridsen’s Sure On This Shining Night or Dirait-on - the latter would be a beautiful, beautiful graduation piece. I was really moved by the text; here’s the poem and the translation: Dirait-on by Ranier Maria Rilke, from Les Roses Abandon entoure d’abandon / Abandon surrounding abandon, tendresse touchant aux tendresses… / tenderness touching tenderness… C’est ton interieur qui sans cesse / Your oneness endlessly se caresse, dirait-on; / caresses itself, so they say; se caresse en soi-meme, / self-caressing par son propre reflet eclaire. / through its own clear reflection. Ainsi tu inventes le theme / Thus you invent the theme du Narcisse exauce. / of Narcissus fulfilled. This concert really made me excited to go to Williams at well; it made me realize how important it is to get to the root of musical inspiration, since the poetry was such a huge part of this musical experience. I’m gonna get such a comprehensive, holistic, well-rounded education there, and that will add so much depth to my music. I especially loved Eric Whitacre’s the city and the sea; the piano parts in as is the sea marvelous are stunning, and little man in a hurry has amazing word painting and energy. All of the little pieces in that work are gorgeous though. Here are the poems, all by ee cummings (Note: Tumblr won’t let me space it correctly): i. i walked the boulevard i walked the boulevard i saw a dirty child skating on noisy wheels of joy pathetic dress fluttering behind her a mothermonster with red grumbling face cluttered in pursuit pleasantly elephantine while nearby the father a thick cheerful man with majestic bulbous lips and forlorn piggish hands joked to a girlish bore with busy rhythmic mouth and silly purple eyelids of how she was with child ii. the moon is hiding in her hair the moon is hiding in her hair. the lily of heaven full of all dreams, draws down. cover her briefness in singing close her with intricate faint birds by daisies and twilights deepen her, recite upon her flesh the rain’s pearls singly-whispering. iii. maggie and milly and molly and may maggie and milly and molly and may went down to the beach (to play one day) and maggie discovered a shell that sang so sweetly she couldn’t remember her troubles, and milly befriended a stranded star whose rays five languid fingers were; and molly was chased by a horrible thing which raced sideways while blowing bubbles: and may came home with a smooth round stone as small as a world and as large as alone. For whatever we lose (like a you or a me) it’s always ourselves we find in the sea. iv. as is the sea marvelous as is the sea marvelous from god’s hands which sent her forth to sleep upon the world and the earth withers the moon crumbles one by one stars flutter into dust but the sea does not change and she goes forth out of hands and she returns into hands and is with sleep…. love, the breaking of your soul upon my lips v. little man in a hurry little man (in a hurry full of an important worry) half stop forget relax wait (little child who have tried who have failed who have cried) lie bravely down sleep big rain big snow big sun bug moon (enter us) Alright, one last thing. This poem was amazing too! A Boy and a Girl by Octavio Paz Stretched out on the grass, a boy and a girl. Savoring their oranges, giving their kisses like waves exchanging foam. Stretched out on the beach, a boy and a girl. Savoring their limes, giving their kisses like clouds exchanging foam. Stretched out underground, a boy and a girl. Saying nothing, never kissing, giving silence for silence. 130227 ... epitome of incomprehensibility The formatting on tumblr, indeed... But for all the copy-pasting, seeing the name of this song on my three_words made me nostalgic. "Sure on This Shining Night" as well. It'd be amazing to see those performed with the actual composers/arrangers. 230105 what's it to you? who go blather from