dwsChorale: Music
Voyelles de Rimbaud
(
)
)David W Solomons
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My attention was drawn to this strange poem by fellow composer Mike Roberts. The time was right for me to go straight into it (if that`s any way to refer to Rimbaud!) so I composed and performed this setting this very week. The singers (all of them me of course) range from alto to bass in the chorus, who recite the vowels only, with the two alto soloists singing the rest of the poem on each side of the main choir answering each other. The score can be obtained free of charge as a pdf here (pdf file)
A noir, E blanc, I rouge, U vert, O bleu: voyelles,
Je dirai quelque jour vos naissances latentes:
A, noir corset velu des mouches éclatantes
Qui bombinent autour des puanteurs cruelles,
Golfes d`ombre; E, candeurs des vapeurs et des tentes,
Lances des glaciers, rois blancs, frissons d`ombelles;
I, pourpres, sang craché, rire des lèvres belles
Dans la colère ou les ivresses pénitentes;
U, cycles, vibrements divins des mers virides,
Paix des pâtis semés d`animaux,
paix des rides Que l`alchimie imprime aux grands fronts studieux;
O, suprême clairon plein des strideurs étranges,
Silences traversés des Mondes et des Anges:
- O, l`Oméga, rayon violet de Ses Yeux!
Various paraphrases and translations can be found here