canticum solis
As a preparatory "study" for my vocal composition Les Larmes, I wrote this short poem using my own interpretation of an archaic Italian lyric style, and set it to music composed for the Vermont College of Fine Arts Choral Workshop. The choice of a more antiquated Italian lyric, mixed with Latin, serves the melodic lines and syllabic flow first and foremost, and secondarily to illustrate the historic references I was researching to compose the larger Les Larmes (i.e. plainsong, the music of Hildegard von Bingen, neumes, and early Medieval musical forms).
Performed and recorded by the VCFA Choral Workshop, Summer 2020.
*The original, high-quality recording was lost due to a computer crash, but a Zoom recording (albeit of poor audio quality) was recovered.
Canticum Solis
Latin:
Omnia sol
Italian:
La sole [il sole] brilla supra tutte
La canta forma la luce
Le onde invisibili rendono tutte visibile
La sole genera vita
Ma anche causa la morte
Dall’alba alla prossima
Un’età all’altra
Sun Song
All is sun [the sun shines over all]
The sun shines over all
Her song forms light
Invisible waves render all visible
The sun begets life
But also causes death
From [one] sunrise to the next
[From] one age to another