Im Harren (2016)
mezzo-soprano, piano
c. 2 minutes
text by Stefan George
Commissioned by Kayleigh Butcher and Christopher Narloch for The Schönberg Project
Premiered by Kayleigh Butcher and Christopher Narloch
Constellation Chicago, IL, 19 November 2017
c. 2 minutes
text by Stefan George
Commissioned by Kayleigh Butcher and Christopher Narloch for The Schönberg Project
Premiered by Kayleigh Butcher and Christopher Narloch
Constellation Chicago, IL, 19 November 2017
Im Harren was composed to accompany a performance of Schoenberg’s Das Buch der hängenden Gärten. Schoenberg’s cycle describes a love affair between a prince and an unspecified lover, which eventually dissolves when the prince’s lover leaves and the garden—the site of their affair—crumbles. In the tenth movement, the prince waits for his lover by the garden, contemplating the plants that bloom there. The movement initiates the climax of their relationship.
To compose Im Harren, I selected three lines of Stefan George’s text from the tenth movement, focusing on the theme of waiting. The repetitive motive that opens and closes the piece symbolizes the lover’s anxious anticipation. Although Schoenberg’s cycle is sung from the prince’s perspective, my interpretation depicts the woman’s point of view as she waits for the prince to arrive and, eventually, succumbs to pleasure. As in Schoenberg’s cycle, the woman will ultimately leave the relationship, a decision I view as a sign of independence and strength.
Excerpts from George’s text:
Das schöne Beet betracht ich mir im Harren,
Es ist umzäunt mit purpurn-schwarzem Dorn,
Und in der Mitte Glocken, weiss und mild.
Translation:
I consider the beautiful garden bed as I wait.
It is enclosed with crimson-black thorns,
and in the middle, bells, white and mild.
To compose Im Harren, I selected three lines of Stefan George’s text from the tenth movement, focusing on the theme of waiting. The repetitive motive that opens and closes the piece symbolizes the lover’s anxious anticipation. Although Schoenberg’s cycle is sung from the prince’s perspective, my interpretation depicts the woman’s point of view as she waits for the prince to arrive and, eventually, succumbs to pleasure. As in Schoenberg’s cycle, the woman will ultimately leave the relationship, a decision I view as a sign of independence and strength.
Excerpts from George’s text:
Das schöne Beet betracht ich mir im Harren,
Es ist umzäunt mit purpurn-schwarzem Dorn,
Und in der Mitte Glocken, weiss und mild.
Translation:
I consider the beautiful garden bed as I wait.
It is enclosed with crimson-black thorns,
and in the middle, bells, white and mild.
Im Harren is published in the NewMusicShelf Anthology of New Music for Mezzo-Soprano, Vol. 1, curated by Megan Ihnen, 2018, available for purchase here.
