Seelenwanderung - (2018)   

Wilhelm Busch

for baritone and piano

 

Wohl tausendmal schon ist er hier
Gestorben und wieder geboren,
Sowohl als Mensch wie auch als Tier,
Mit kurzen und langen Ohren.

Jetzt ist er ein armer blinder Mann,
Es zittern ihm alle Glieder,
Und dennoch, wenn er nur irgend kann,
Kommt er noch tausendmal wieder.

2 pages, circa 2' 30"

 

Found in Busch's collection of poems, Zu guter Letzt, this set of stanzas points to a poignant look at notions of reincarnation or the wanderings of the Soul in a larger sense, as the instance in this text is of a "poor, blind man," trembling in the moment crystallized in the poetic imagery.

 

 

Wilhelm Busch, circa 1882

 

 Transmigration

rhymed paraphrase of the composer.

Already as the millennia pass
He has died, reborn in tears,
Each human as each animal,
With small as with larger ears.

Now he is a poor, blind man,
And all his limbs do tremble so,
Yet, as he might manage it,
A thousand times more will he come to go.

 

Copyright © 2018 Gary Bachlund     All international rights reserved.

 

 

The harmonic succession moves inexorably through unsettled tonal domains as the voice lyrically declaims the text darkly. For other settings of Busch's poems, click here .

 

 

 

 

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 art song score.

 

Seelenwanderung