Project: Descent

Solitude

Solitude was inspired by a poem in the Chansons de Bilitis by Pierre Louÿs, a fin-de- siècle French poet who claimed to be translating ancient Greek lesbian poetry. (In fact, he made it all up himself.) Composer and lyricist Phil Kline and I collaborated on an evening-length song cycle based on these Chansons called The Story of B.  Everything is another song in the cycle, that one for voice and bass flute.

Solitude was originally written to be sung down an octave from where it is notated, and for most singers, male or female, that is likely to be the best place for it. Because the pre-recorded track can’t effectively be transposed, the hope is that you can make one or the other octave work well for your performance.

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You can hear a recording of the piece by Ruthie Stephens by visiting 10 November in A Book of Days.

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And you can download the performing score by clicking the paypal button below, with my thanks for supporting this informal way of publishing:

DETAILS

Everything

Everything is a song for female voice and bass flute. It is part of a song cycle called The Story of B, the lyrics of which are adapted from the poetry of Pierre Louÿs, a fin-de-siècle French poet who claimed to be translating ancient Greek lesbian poetry, but in fact he made it all up himself.

The original French text that I used to make my adaptation goes like this:

Tout, et ma vie, et le monde, et les hommes, tout ce qui n’est pas elle n’est rien. Tout ce qui n’est pas elle, je te le donne, passant.

Sait-elle que de travaux j’accomplis pour être belle à ses yeux, par ma coiffure et par mes fards, par mes robes et mes parfums?

Aussi longtemps je tournerais la meule, je ferais plonger la rame ou je bêcherais la terre, s’il fallait à ce prix la retenir ici.

Mais faites qu’elle ne l’apprenne jamais, Déesses qui veillez sur nous! Le jour où elle saura que je l’aime elle cherchera une autre femme.

Here’s my version:

Everything: my life,
the world, the men,
everything that is not her
is nothing.

Does she know how hard I work
to be beautiful to her?

I would row to China,
I would build a pyramid,
I would plow the dark earth
with my bare hands.

Goddesses, don’t let her know.
The day she learns I love her
she will look for another.

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You can hear my recording of the piece with my longtime collaborator Margaret Lancaster on bass flute by visiting 10 October in A Book of Days. Another song from The Story of B is Solitude.

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You can download the performing score for Everything by clicking one of the buttons below, with my thanks for supporting this informal way of publishing:

DETAILS