Werken > Chamber music · winds > Bergidylle (2010)
Bergidylle
Narrative song cycle in three movements for soprano, clarinet and piano on three poems ‘Aus der Harzreise’ (1824) by Heinrich Heine
Three movements:1. Largo - piu mosso: Auf dem Berge steht die Hütte, Wo der alte Bergmann wohnt…
2. Liberamente - meno mosso: Tannenbaum mit grünen Fingern, Pocht ans niedre Fensterlein…
3. Largo - piu mosso: Still versteckt der Mond sich draussen, Hinterm grünen Tannenbaum…
Duur: 25 min. ca
Written for the Trio Amare: Sabine Wuethrich, soprano, Céleste Zewald, clarinet, Daniel Kramer, piano. Written with financial support of the trio itself.
Short outline:
On a moonlit Mountain, amidst the moonlit pine trees, we witness the Traveller who, from a rustically chiselled armchair, happily ponders the idyllic scene of three Mountain Dwellers in the hut that he visits: a little, starry eyed young blonde with rosy red lips, with her mother at the spinning wheel and her father playing the zither while singing the songs of olden times.
This Youthful Beloved One (for whom the Traveller seems to entertain a more than touristic interest), instead of erotic secrets, rather unpleasantly discloses the solitude and hardship she suffers on the mountain. Having arrived at the story’s most terrible part, about evil spirits that beset the place, she suddenly shies from speaking. The Traveller, soothingly accompanied by zither, songs and spinning wheel, calmingly reminds her that guardian angels will without doubt surround her all night.Same scene – father and mother having fallen asleep. The Youthful Beloved One, a little frightened by the Traveler’s twitching lips and glowing eyes, wonders if these do, or do not, betray a deep Christian faith. Comfortingly, he sets out to describe his discovery, in his youth, of the Almighty Creator Father, then of the beloved and loving Son, and finally of the Holy Spirit, whom he describes as a mighty force that, with his Knights, liberates us from oppression, poverty and superstition. Working himself up to lofty moral heights, he declares himself to be such an Armoured Knight of the Holy Spirit.
The same scene – with starry eyes, the youthful Beloved One in her turn reveals how starkly the dire present contrasts with the enchanted history of the Mountain. The scarce food left over by evil goblins is stolen by the cat, a witch in disguise, who carries it to the ruins of what once used to be a proud and lively castle. She then reveals the Mountain Dwellers’ superstition: one day, at the pronouncement of a magical word, the proud, the rich and noble castle and all its young Knights will be restored to their former lustre.
The Traveller then experiences a strange sense of recognition.
Seemingly sensing the magical word on the tip of his tongue, he bursts out in a lyrical depiction of the magical return, not only of the Mountain world of old, but also of his own beautiful and beloved Youth. This will finally allow him to take her as his Princess and put the world of the Mountain at her feet.
The complete text ‘aus letzter Hand’ can be found on the beautifully accessible and complete Heine Portal.
A programme note is soon to follow.
This is the first performance of part 2, by the Trio Amare in februari 2011.
Audio clips
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