Music and Texts of GARY BACHLUND
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Bis auf weiters - (2013)
Wilhelm Busch
for bass or baritone and piano
Das Messer blitzt, die Schweine schrein,
Man muß sie halt benutzen,
Denn jeder denkt: »Wozu das Schwein,
Wenn wir es nicht verputzen?«
Und jeder schmunzelt, jeder nagt
Nach Art der Kannibalen,
Bis man dereinst »Pfui Teufel!« sagt
Zum Schinken aus Westfalen.2 pages, circa 1' 30"
Wilhelm Busch
The knife gleams as a piggy screams,
For man must butcher pork;
Some folks think on porcine themes
Involving knife and fork.
And so man smiles while dining
In the manner of a cannibal's pleasure;
Until he bleats, "Egad!" opining,
"Westphalia's not ham's best measure."
rhymed paraphrase by the composer
The original text is from Busch's collection, Schein und Sein. For other settings of Busch's poems, click here.
The parallel fifths in opening diatonic runs introduce a clear major tonic, upwards to "cut" and down again as a "scream." A middle section is more lyric and hymn-like, four-square and in sequences until a final brief restatement of the opening, reminding that yet again, "Das Messer blitzt!"
The score for Bis auf weiters 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.
