Songs of Moonlight & Shadows for soprano, alto flute, cello, piano and percussion by Jason Thorpe Buchanan was written in Fall 2008. These four songs are settings of texts by the Austro-German Expressionist poet, Georg Trakl. During World War I, Trakl served as a medical officer and suffered greatly from depression, which was compounded by his experiences attending to wounded soldiers. Trakl wrote these poems between 1909 and his death in 1914. After his first attempt at suicide, he was hospitalized and although he did seek out help, he was later found deceased, having ended his own life from an overdose of cocaine. For myself, these songs are something of an exploration into a darker psyche, which is exposed by utilizing an ensemble of a somewhat darker timbre as a composite organism.
This work was selected to be premiered for the 2009 N.E.O.N. (Nevada Encounters of New) Music Festival call for scores.
Silence - Georg Trakl - (1909) Over the forests the moon
Gleams pale, which makes us dream,
The willow by the dark pond
Weeps soundlessly into the night.
A heart is extinguished - and placidly
The mist floods and rises -
Silence, silence!
Schweigen Über den Wäldern schimmert bleich
Der Mond, der uns träumen macht,
Die Weide am dunklen Teich
Weint lautlos in die Nacht.
Ein Herz erlischt - und sacht
Die Nebel fluten und steigen -
Schweigen, Schweigen!
In the East - Georg Trakl (1914) Like the wild organs of winter storms Glides a people's dark wrath, The crimson wave of the battle Of defoliated stars.
With broken brows and silver arms, The night beckons to dying soldiers. In the shadows of the autumnal ash tree, The spirits of the slain sigh.
Thorny wilderness girds the city. From bleeding steps the moon Harries the frightened women. Wild wolves have broken through the gate.
Im Osten Den wilden Orgeln des Wintersturms Gleicht des Volkes finstrer Zorn, Die purpurne Woge der Schlacht, Entlaubter Sterne.
Mit zerbrochnen Brauen, silbernen Armen Winkt sterbenden Soldaten die Nacht. Im Schatten der herbstlichen Esche Seufzen die Geister der Erschlagenen.
Dornige Wildnis umgürtet die Stadt. Von blutenden Stufen jagt der Mond Die erschrockenen Frauen. Wilde Wölfe brachen durchs Tor.
The Evening - Georg Trakl (1914) The Moon shone with so blue a light Over the City, Where a decaying generation Lives cold and evil - A dark future prepared For the pale grandchild. Its moon devours shadows Sighing in the empty crystal Of the mountain lake.
Der Abend So bläulich erstrahlt es Gegen die Stadt hin, Wo kalt und böse Ein verwesend Geschlecht wohnt, Der weißen Enkel Dunkle Zukunft bereitet. Ihr mondverschlungnen Schatten Aufseufzend im leeren Kristall Des Bergsees.
Melancholy - Georg Trakl (1913) Bluish shadows. O their dark eyes, That gaze at me gliding past. Guitar chords gently accompany autumn In the garden, dissolved in brown lyes.
Death's serious somberness is prepared by Nymph-like hands, decayed lips Suck at red breasts and in black lyes The sun-children's moist curls glide.
Melancholie Bläuliche Schatten. O ihr dunklen Augen, Die lang mich anschaun im Vorübergleiten. Guitarrenklänge sanft den Herbst begleiten Im Garten, aufgelöst in braunen Laugen.
Des Todes ernste Düsternis bereiten Nymphische Hände, an roten Brüsten saugen Verfallne Lippen und in schwarzen Laugen Des Sonnenjünglings feuchte Locken gleiten.
