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.
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.
And you can download the performing score by clicking the paypal button below and paying whatever amount you think reasonable, with my thanks for supporting this informal way of publishing:
DETAILS
- Instrumentation: flute voice (singer)
- Ensemble Size: 2-6
- Duration: <5 minutes
- Electronics: No Electronics
- Video: No
- Project(s): A Book of Days Descent
- Year: 2003