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So wars - (2012)
Wilhelm Busch
for soprano and piano
Der Teetopf war so wunderschön,
Sie liebt' ihn wie ihr Leben.
Sie hat ihm leider aus Versehn
Den Todesstoß gegeben.
Was sie für Kummer da empfand,
Nie wird sie es vergessen.
Sie hielt die Scherben aneinand
Und sprach: So hats gesessen!3 pages, circa 1' 30"
Wilhelm Busch
So it was
The teapot was so beautiful,
She'd loved it as herself.
Unfortunately her small mistake
Dropped it off the shelf.
What she felt of grief and pain
She'd remember long and hard.
She fitted the shards together and said,
This I held in high regard!
rhymed paraphrase by the composer
The setting opens light-heartedly, trills and bright arpeggios. The setting moves to sostenuto arpeggios rising with enthusiasm, until a sudden minor harmonic color dampens the mood. With aggressive marcato gestures is E major shattered, the minor driving the next strophe into F major, as the remembrance of what is lost being reprised in the themes, quickly coming to a flippant and abrupt end. The vocal line rises to its highest point at the memory of what was and no longer is.
The score for So wars 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.
