Colors of Memory for Piano
Lawrence Kramer
About this work:
This suite of piano pieces was composed primarily in 2008 with additions in 2011 and 2015. It takes the poetry of Rimbaud as a point of reference. The titles of the five "Colors" are drawn from "Mémoire," a poem that links the memories of early childhood with the evocative power of particlar colors. Hence my title: these are the colors of memeory.
1. l'ebat des anges; --Non...le courant d'or en marche,
meut ses bras, noirs et lourds, et frais surtout, d'herbe.
(the frolic of angels;-- No... the golden stream on its course
moves its arms, black and heavy, and above all cool, with grass.)
2. Elle,
sombre, ayant le Ciel bleu pour ciel-le-lit, apelle
pour rideaux l'ombre de la colline et de l'arche.
(She,
dark, having the blue sky for canopy, summons
for curtains the shadow of the hill and the arch.)
3. Regret des bras épais et jeunes d'herbe pure!
Or des lunes d'avril au coeur du lit saint!
(Regret for the sturdy young arms of pure grass!
Gold of april moons at the heart of the sacred bed!)
4. Les robes vertes et déteintes des filettes
font les saules, d'où sautent les oiseaux sans bride.
(The green and faded dresses of small girls
Make willows from which the birds leap without leash.)
5. des enfants lisant dans la verdure fleurie
leur livre de maroquin rouge!
(children reading in the flowering green grass
their book of red morocco!)
Year composed: 2008
Duration: 19:00:60
Ensemble type: Keyboard:Piano
Instrumentation: