this is the garden
David Hahn
About this work:
this is the garden
this is the garden:colours come and go,
frail azures fluttering from night's outer wing
strong silent greens silently lingering,
absolute lights like baths of golden snow.
This is the garden:pursed lips do blow
upon cool flutes within wide glooms,and sing
(of harps celestial to the quivering string)
invisible faces hauntingly and slow.
This is the garden. Time shall surely reap
and on Death's blade lie many a flower curled,
in other lands where other songs be sung;
yet stand They here enraptured,as among
the slow deep trees perpetual of sleep
some silver-fingered fountain steals the world.
E. E. Cummings
from Tulips and Chimneys (1923)
The poetry of E. E. Cummings (1894–1962) is notorious for its unorthodox punctuation, capitalization, layout, and grammar. His relatively traditional sonnet this is the garden comes from his first collection of poetry, 1923’s Tulips and Chimneys. My setting also has a rather straightforward structure, dividing the poem into three sections, each beginning with a repetition of the text "This is the garden". There is a stark stylistic contrast throughout, between instrumental versus choral writing. To the instruments (clarinet, bassoon, horn, viola, cello, and doublebass) is given music reflecting the garden itself, with quick rhythmic figures, splashes of color, and jumpy textures reminiscent of Anton Webern. But the choral writing is more lyrical, as the singers take on the role of human observer, commenting objectively on the playful instrumental garden around them.
The instruments often take the lead in this is the garden, including an introduction in which one can almost see bees and birds flitting about, amid colorful splashes of light. The poem is divided by two instrumental interludes, of which the second (after "hauntingly and slow") is particularly remarkable: it begins with predictable rhythms, but culminates in a battle of duplets (two divisions per beat) vs. triplets (three divisions). The work’s third poetic section is mostly unaccompanied; as "death’s blade" overcomes the garden, the instruments symbolically cease playing. The central line of text is certainly "yet stand They here enraptured," given full, strong chords, with the choir divided into six parts. At the closing mention of "perpetual sleep," the voices have long, steady note values, but the opening garden music returns. This garden may be under threat, but the music testifies that it will be restored.
Premiere: Annas Bay Music Festival at Union, WA, by the South Shore Orchestra & Chorus, September 2, 2006.
Year composed: 2006
Duration: 00:08:00
Ensemble type: Chorus, with or without Solo Voices:Chorus with Chamber Ensemble
Instrumentation: 1 Clarinet, 1 Bassoon, 1 Horn in F, 1 Viola, 1 Cello, 1 Double bass, 1 S, 1 A, 1 T, 1 B