Tonight, I’m going to share one of my favorite chorus songs ever, Morten Laurisden‘s setting of Dirait-On, a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke. The Women’s Glee Club sang this with the Men’s Glee Club for our Spring 2004 concert. I was singing Alto.
Dirait-On is near the top of my list of all-time favorite songs, even beyond choir.
Here’s another nice performance (couldn’t decide which video I liked best so I’m posting both):
Dirait-On is actually the last song in a 5-song cycle called Les Chansons des Roses, based on a longer poem about roses by Rilke.
Whenever I stroll through places like the Morcom Rose Garden in Oakland, I want to listen to this song. It really affects me on a deep level. It makes me think of early evening walks in beautiful landscapes in the spring and summer; just being in and enjoying nature.
It’s super important to me that I hear and savor the opening piano note (F) when I listen to this song. I have no idea why, but that F really sets the tone and feel. If I feel like I haven’t “heard” (and felt) it properly, I’ll keep restarting it til I’m satisfied. I’m particular about my favorite song. 🙂
Abandon entouré d’abandon,
tendresse touchant aux tendresses…
C’est ton intérieur qui sans cesse
se caresse, dirait-on;
se caresse en soi-mĂŞme,
par son propre reflet éclairé.
Ainsi tu inventes le thème
du Narcisse exaucé.
English translation:
Abandon surrounding abandon,
Tenderness touching tenderness…
Your oneness endlessly
Caresses itself, so they say;
Self-caressing
through its own clear reflection.
Thus you invent the theme
of Narcissus fulfilled.
1 Comment