Music and Texts of GARY BACHLUND
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Drei wilde Gänse - (2011)
Klabund
for baritone and piano
Drei wilde Gänse, die flogen über See.
Da schoß der Jäger alle drei,
und was einmal ins Wasser fiel,
kommt nimmer in die Höh'.
Drei junge Mädels, die führte ein Kavalier aus,
und wenn erst ein Mädel mal Sekt genascht,
Liebe genascht, Hiebe genascht –
die kommt nicht mehr nach Haus.
Und ich pfeife auf meine Jungfernschaft,
und ich pfeife auf mein Leben.
Der Kerl, der sie mir genommen hat,
um eins und um zwei und um drei bei der Nacht,
der kann sie mir nimmer geben.
Geh, schenk mir doch 'n Fuffzger,
geh, schenk mir doch 'ne Mark.
Ich will mich mit Schnaps besaufen,
ich will mir eine Villa kaufen
oder einen Sarg.[ 3 pages, circa 2' 20" ]
Klabund
Three wild geese, that flew over the lake.
Then a hunter shot all three,
And what once fell into the water
Never rose again into the heights.
Three young ladies, out with a gentleman,
And when the gals first sipped champagne,
Were tripped up by love, then beaten by it,
These girls came home no more.
And I don't give a fig for my virginity,
And I don't give a fig for my life.
The chap that took it from me
Around one and two and three in the night
Can't give it back to me.
Say, then lend me fifty cents,
Hey, then give me a Mark,
I want to get drunk on brandy,
I want to buy me a house,
Or my coffin.
The four-beat music hall style and simple accompaniment betray what the poet has termed a "Volkslied," there being no folk song like unto this strange mélange of images. Each verse moves a step higher, the third straying from the four-beat texture to a cut time strut.
The keys move from F to G to A major, with the third stanza of the poem flippantly tossing off the revelations about sex and carelessness about life itself. The last stanza returns to the four-beat style, with a final cadence, quickly moving through the three tonal domains to a hard landing on A again.
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.
