Music and Texts of GARY BACHLUND
Vocal Music | Piano | Organ | Chamber Music | Orchestral | Articles and Commentary | Poems and Stories | Miscellany | FAQs
Abendlied - (2012)
Manfred Kyber
for medium voice and piano
Der Abend kommt, der Tag ist aus,
Frau Sonne geht zur Ruh.
Sie geht wohl in ihr Wolkenhaus
und macht die Türe zu.
Dann werden alle angebrannt
die Sternlein in der Nacht.
Es halten über Meer und Land
die Engel heil’ge Wacht.
Und wenn die goldnen Sterne stehn
und scheint der Mond dazu,
dann müssen alle schlafen gehen:
die Welt und ich und du.
Und schläfst du ein und hast du kaum
die Augen zugemacht,
dann schenkt dir einen lieben Traum
die Königin der Nacht.3 pages, circa 2' 45"
Manfred Kyber
The evening comes, the day is past,
And Lady Sun by time is led;
Retiring to a cloud-washed house,
She yawns and directly goes to bed.
When this is all well and done
The stars are seen above,
And over all, both sea and land,
The angels guard with love.
And when the golden stars are there,
The moon bright blazes too,
As come the time to go to bed:
For the world, for me, and you.
And when our tired eyes are shut,
And when soft sleep alights,
The Queen of Night then sends to all
A dream of love's delights.
gb
Copyright 2012 © Gary Bachlund All international rights reserved.
The notion of triadic major relationships in other than the expected vocabulary came to mind. This little puzzle moves through the twelve tones of the chromatic scale, in triadic appearances. For the first strophe, a rising gesture built on C is followed by a falling one on D, and so forth. The three voices in the accompaniment march in different beats, half, quarter and eighth note movements, as arches into phrases are spun. The second strophe slips up a step, and the last two return to C. Episodes in between move through many non-tonal chords in a harmonious whole. The setting ends on a diminuendo into a dreamy A major.
The score is available as a free PDF download, though any major commercial performance or recording of the work is prohibited without prior arrangement with the composer. Click on the graphic below for this piano-vocal score.
