Nach Raum und Zeit
Duration: 10'30"
Instrumentation:
High Voice and Piano
Program Notes:
The text for these five songs for voice and piano come from five different German poets from a variety of time periods. These poems are unified by a common theme: time and our relationship to it.
I. Ein Traum
Ein Traum, ein Traum ist unser Leben
Auf Erden hier.
Wie Schatten auf den Wogen schweben
Und schwinden wir,
Und messen unsre trägen Tritte
Nach Raum und Zeit;
Und sind (und wissens nicht) in Mitte
Der Ewigkeit.
- Johann Gottfried Herder (1744-1803)
II. Frühlingsglaube
Die linden Lüfte sind erwacht,
Sie säuseln und wehen Tag und Nacht,
Sie schaffen an allen Enden.
O frischer Duft, o neuer Klang!
Nun, armes Herze, sei nicht bang!
Nun muß sich alles, alles wenden.
Die Welt wird schöner mit jedem Tag,
Man weiß nicht, was noch werden mag,
Das Blühen will nicht enden.
Es blüht das fernste, tiefste Tal:
Nun, armes Herz, vergiß der Qual!
Nun muß sich alles, alles wenden.
- J. Ludwig Uhland (1787-1862)
III. Ich klag
Ich klag, ich klag, ich klag.
Ein Engel, ein Engel wonniglich, inniglich:
O Tag, erlös sie minniglich!
Verjag die Alten, die Kalten in Falten!
Schweigen wunderlich, freudiglich.
- Oswald von Wolkenstein (1376/77-1445)
IV. An meine Taschenuhr
Du schlimme Uhr, du gehst mir viel zu schnell;
und doch - dich schauend, seh ich selber hell.
Unschuldig Räderwerk, was schelt ich dich?
Ich geh zu langsam, ach zu langsam – ich.
- Christian Morgenstern (1871-1914)
V. Das ist nun alles*
Das ist nun alles und ist night genug
Doct sagt es euch vielleicht, ich bin noch da.
Dem gleich ich, der den Backstein mit sich trug
Der Welt zu zeigen, wie sein Haus aussah.
- Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956)
I. A dream
A dream, a dream is our lives,
Here on Earth.
Like shadows drift upon the waves
So too we fade,
And measure our sluggish paces
Towards Space and Time;
And we are (unknowingly) in the middle
Of Eternity.
- translated by the composer
II. Spring's Faith
The mild breezes have awoken,
They rustle and whirl day and night,
They move onward to all Earth's ends.
Oh fresh bouquet, oh new sound!
Now, poor darling, don't you fear!
Now everything, everything must change.
The world becomes more beautiful every day
No one knows, what tomorrow may bring,
The blossoms don't want to retire.
It blooms in the furthest, deepest dale:
Now, poor darling, forget your pain!
Now everything, everything must change.
- translated by the composer
III. I lament
I lament, I lament, I lament.
Once an angel, an angel dear and delightful.
Oh day, release her lovingly!
Chase away the old, cold wrinkles!
Be still, quaint and joyful.
- translated by the composer
IV. To my pocket watch
You dreadful watch, you move too fast for me;
and yet - looking at you, I clearly see myself.
Innocent gears, why do I scold you?
I move too slowly, oh how slowly - I.
- translated by the composer
V. This is all there is*
This is all there is and it is not enough
Yet perhaps it tells you, I am still here.
I am like the man who carried a brick with him
To show the world how his house once looked.
- translated by the composer
Perusal Score
* This poem and its subsequent translation are used with permission from Brecht-Erben.
Awards:
Selected Score, 2016 Ensemble for These Times Call for Scores
Selected Performance, 2015 36th College Music Society's Southern Conference
Selected Performance, 2014 33rd College Music Society's Great Plains Conference
Second Place, 2013 Rebecca Sherburn Vocal Composition Competition
Performances:
Complete Set:
Matthew Carey and Emily Trapp Jenkins- 26 February 2024; Jonesboro, AR
Marika Kyriakos and Lauren Schack Clark - 19 February 2015; Columbus, MS
Marika Kyriakos and Lauren Schack Clark - 9 February 2015; Jonesboro, AR
Rachael Colman and Emily Trapp - 18 March 2014; Kansas City, MO
Sarah Tannehill-Anderson and Calvin Permenter - 7 March 2014; Liberty, MO
Rachael Colman and Emily Trapp (Musica Nova) - 13 February 2014; Kansas City, MO
No. 1 "Ein Traum," No. 2 "Frühlingsglaube," & No. 3 "Ich klag":
Ensemble for These Times - 29 January 2019; San Francisco, CA [Review of Performance on San Francisco Classical Voice]
No. 1 "Ein Traum":
Rebecca Sorensen and Andrew Schneider - 4 February 2012; Houston, TX
No. 3 "Ich klag":
Amy Owens and Andrew Schneider - 4 February 2012; Houston, TX
Jennifer Beattie and Jillian Zack - 19 June 2011; Middlebury, VT [Video of Performance on YouTube]
No. 4 "An meine Taschenuhr":
Allegra De Vita and Andrew Schneider - 4 February 2012; Houston, TX