The sixth movement (“Largo Desolato”) of Alban Berg’s “Lyric Suite” played by the Alban Berg Quartet. There is also a lied (song) version of this movement that was encrypted by Berg and not discovered until 1977. Could not find any of the vocal versions on youtube. This movement was composed to be accompanied most likely by a mezzo but possibly a soprano singing “De profundis clamavi” by Charles Baudelaire (“Flowers of Evil”) translated to German. Incidentally, the title is also the title of Psalm 130 (“From the depths I have cried”). The backstory of the “Lyric Suite” is posted in a link under “comments”. It has all to do with a love affair with which he was deeply involved. An avid lover of literature since boyhood, Berg liked not only Baudelaire, but also other poetry considered offensive enough to cause a serious riot during the first performance of “Fünf Orchesterlieder nach Ansichtkartentexten von Peter Altenberg” (“Five Orchestral Songs after Picture Postcard Texts by Peter Altenberg”) op.4 in 1913.The conductor was arrested by the police. A link about his not-so-calm life and unusual death is posted below. De profundis clamavi Jimplore ta pitié, Toi, lunique que jaime, Du fond du gouffre obscur où mon coeur est tombé. Cest un univers morne à lhorizon plombé, Où nagent dans la nuit lhorreur et le blasphème; Un soleil sans chaleur plane au-dessus six mois, Et les six autres mois la nuit couvre la terre; Cest un pays plus nu que la terre polaire — Ni bêtes, ni ruisseaux, ni verdure, ni bois! Or il nest pas dhorreur au monde qui surpasse La froide cruauté de ce soleil de glace Et cette immense nuit semblable au vieux Chaos; Je jalouse le sort des plus vils animaux Qui peuvent se plonger dans un sommeil stupide, Tant lécheveau du temps lentement se dévide! De profundis clamavi I beg your pity, You, my only love, My fallen heart lies in a deep abyss, A universe of leaden heaviness, Where cursing terrors swim the night above; For six months stands a sun with heatless beams, The other months are spent in total night; It is a polar land to human sight --No greenery, no trees, no running streams! But there is not a horror to surpass The cruelty of that blank sun’s cold glass And that long night, that Chaos come again; I’m jealous of the meanest of the beasts Who plunge themselves into a stupid sleep-- So slowly the the time unwind its skein! ---Charles Baudelaire. “The Flowers of Evil”, first published in 1857. The above translation from French by James McGowan. Oxford University Press.1993. pp. 62-63
Posted on: Mon, 08 Sep 2014 13:10:31 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015