CARNET DE DAMNE [Notebk Of Damned], Mezzo, Ens: Rimbaud
Harold Blumenfeld
About this work:
CARNET DE DAMNE - Notebook of a Damned One - is setting of entire "ADIEU" concluding Rimbaud's "SAISON EN ENFER" verbatim. Sung in French. Rimbaud's brief lovely "ETERNITE" is added at end, as coda and consolation.
Dramatic Soprano or High Baritone, Chamber Ensemble of 8 Players: Oboe, Clarinet; 2 Percussion, Piano; Viola, Cello, Bass...
Hair-raising, heart-rending "Adieu" text, unparalelled in literature. This is only known setting integral setting...
SOUND BITE and Sample SCORE PAGES on site...
The harrowing "Adieu" setting is followed with R's magical "L'ETERNITE", as consolation...
Recorded Albany Records, TROY 1034 and on Centaur Records, CRC 2277. Christine Schadeberg, soprano, St Louis Ensemble, composer conducting...
Former Pub. MMB Music now closed. COMPOSER is publisher: blumenf@wustl.edu
Score $45.
****REVIEW...
"A striking opus... an effective musical depiction of despair, desolation, and hallucinatory flashbacks. The final part finds the soprano wrapped in electronic cocoon, singing in lontano." - B. Pernick, Fanfare Magazine....
Text Excerpt and Translation:
L'AUTOMNE DEJA!
MAIS POURQUOI REGRETTER
UN ETERNEL SOLEIL,
SI NOUS SOMMES ENGAGES
A LA DECOUVERTE DE LA CLARTE DIVINE,
LOIN DES GENS QUI MEURENT
SUR LES SAISONS...
Autumn already! But why regret an eternal sun, if we are engaged in the discovery of the divine light, - far from those who die according to the seasons...
L'AUTOMNE. NOTRE BARQUE ELEVEE
DANS LES BRUMES IMMOBILES
TOURNE VERS LE PORT DE LA MISERE,
LA CITE ENORME AU CIEL
TACHE DE FEU ET DE BOUE...
Autumn. Our bark, hovering in motionless fog, turns toward the port of poverty, the monstrous city, its sky stained with fire and mud...
AH! LES HAILLONS POURRIS,
LE PAIN TREMPE DE PLUIE,
L'IVRESSE, LES MILLES AMOURS
QUI M'ONT CRUCIFIE!...
Ah! the filthy tatters, the bread drenched in rain, the drunkeness, the thousand loves which have crucified me!...
ELLE NE FINIRA DONC POINT
CETTE GOULE REINE
DE MILLIONS D'AMES
ET DE CORPS MORTS
ET QUI SERONT JUGES!...
She will never be done, that ghoulish queen of millions of souls and cadavers, who will all be judged!...
And the "Adieu" text continues on...
Text, transl:concluding "L'ETERNITE":
ELLE EST RETROUVE.
QUOI? L'ETERNITE.
C'EST LA MER ALLEE AVEC LE SOLEIL...
It is found again. What? Eternity. It is the sea Fled away with the sun...
AME SENTINELLE, MURMURONS L'AVEU
DE LA NUIT SI NULLE ET LE JOUR EN FEU...
Sentinel soul, Let us murmor avowal
Of night's nullity And the day on fire...
[transls. copyright 2002 by composer].
"Un Carnet de damne" was Rimbaud's initial title for his "Une Saison en enfer". Our "CARNET" is verbatim setting of "ADIEU" from "Saison". It is an explosive psycho-autobiography.Its central idea is young poet's tortured renunciation of poetry, his adieu. This at 19, after achieving revolution in French and international letters. It is also his attempt to chart a way out of the deprivation, pain suffered in its service. He concludes, "Il faut etre absolument moderne". This course was soon to take him to Ethiopia in futile search for fortune, ending in amputation and agonizing end..
And with his death, the Rimbaud Myth is born.
Year composed: 1987
Duration: 00:17:56
Ensemble type: Voice, Solo or With Chamber or Jazz Ensemble:Voice with Chamber/Jazz Ensemble, 6-9 Players
Instrumentation: 1 Oboe, 1 Clarinet, 2 Percussion (General), 1 Piano, 1 Viola, 1 Cello, 1 Double bass, ,1 Mezzo-Soprano soloist(s)
Instrumentation notes: Requires dramatic mezzo or high baritone with wide range, flawless French diction. Strings to be augmented for larger venues. Piano requires amplification. Final section - L'Eternite - requires reverb. IGNORE "delete instrument" entry. A totally pointless category.