Spaghetti

 

Spaghetti - (2011)    

Joachim Ringelnatz

for tenor and piano

 

Nur eins von tausend Englein
Stehe mir ausnahmsweise jetzt bei.
Denn die Spaghetti-Schlänglein
Entklitschen immer dicht vorm Mund.
Und das sieht aus wie Schweinerei
Und sticht die ganze Zunge wund.
Und ich bin doch hier feiner
Kaufleute Gast und schaufle schon
Zwei Stunden rum an der Portion
Und sie wird garnicht kleiner.

[ 2 pages, circa 1' 00" ]

Joachim Ringelnatz

 

Just one of these little angels' horde
Is by me this moment ready.
Ah, spaghetti strands waving toward
One's mouth smack thickly steady.
And it seems rather a piggery
As one scorches raw one's tongue,
But here I be, in my priggery
Shoveling, as are the guests I'm among.
Across the hours a spaghetti serving
Is nothing less than I'm deserving.

 

Rhymed paraphrase by the composer

 

 

This silly little text comes from Ringelnatz' Taschen-Krümel (1922) -- or Pocket Crumbs. I recall enough times in my childhood of such crumbs, though our master satirist has made a collection of such things in rhyme. For other settings of Ringelnatz' lyrical charms, click here. The sliding chromatic gestures of the accompaniment glide over a waltz, tongue firmly in cheek, as the vocal line sings a simple AA verse form.

 

 

The affirmation that such delicacy is one of life's true needs rises in crescendo to assert, "a spaghetti serving / Is nothing less than I'm deserving. " For this an ossia is offered for the voice to rise to a high C-sharp as desired.

 

 

The score for Spaghetti 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.

 

Spaghetti