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'Mary's Song', for mezzo soprano and wind quartet
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From Pushkin's, 'A Feast During the Time of the Plague,' in the original Russian.
jazz classical instrumental vocal opera orchestra chamber ballet
Artist picture
Composer for large-scale performance work, ballet and opera. Have written music for classical theatrical productions of Shakespeare, ("The Tempest," "The Twelft
Loren Lieberman is a native of Denver, Colorado, now living on the West Coast in California, where he is best known for his work as an actor in Classical and Shakespearean Theatre. He has a degree from Sonoma State University in Theatre Arts, and has been an Honor's Music Composition Student at the College of Marin, Santa Rosa Junior College, and at Sonoma State University. He has won an award for composition from the Redwood Empire Music Association. He has recently completed an opera in Russian, based on the novel by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, "Cancer Ward", (and of the same name), and is currently working on his fourth opera, based on the Classical Tragedy by Sophocles, "Oedipus the King," with a libretto in Ancient Greek. His interest in languages has shaped much of his artistic temperment, and he is self taught in Russian and Sanskrit, and has hopes to begin his next opera, Shakespeare's, "Romeo and Juliet," in Hindi.
Song Info
Genre
Classical • Classical General
Charts
Peak #90
Peak in subgenre #31
Author
Masaru Yonemitsu (Loren Lieberman)
Rights
2009
Uploaded
February 20, 2009
Track Files
MP3
MP3 5.3 MB • 128 kbps • 5:50
Story behind the song
The setting of A Feast During the Time of the Plague is a village, where a group of townspeople are drinking and eating, filling their lives with merriment while they are alive, and survivors of a plague, perhaps, which has devasted friends and family alike. A young man calls for a toast to the memory of those fallen during the plague, which the mayor chastises, and calls for a moment of silence instead. He calls for a woman, Mary, to sing. My instrumentation for Marys Song, is sparse -- four woodwinds: flute, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon. My thinking is that the musicians are on stage, and are part of the action -- in other words, townspeople themselves. In a sense, the spare quality of the score serves a dramatic purpose.
Lyrics
Mary (sings) There was time, our Place in the world prospered: On Sundays the churches of God were full; The voices of our children at schools noisily resounded, And the sickle and fast scythe Sparkled on the bright threshing floor. Nowadays the ?hurch is abandoned The schools are locked, and mute The cornfield has idly become overripe The grove is dark and empty The village, stands -- like one That has lost everything to fire silent. Only the graveyard is not empty or quiet. Minute by minute the dead are brought, And the moanings of the living Timidly begging God to grant Their souls peace. ? Minute by minute it is necessary, To find places between the tombs, Like a scared herd, The graves press tightly in a train! If an early tomb Is to be my judgement You, whom I so loved, Whose love was my joy, -- I ask, do not lie near The body of your Jenni Nor concern yourself With the lips of one who Has died, leave them, And the village! Go somewhere, Where to a tormented soul You may bring peace. And when the infection passes, Visit my poor ashes; And Edmond will not leave Jenni even in heaven! If you are interested in obtaining the sheet music, or an audio MP3 file, please contact me at adhikapokoya@gmail.com
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