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- Nicola LeFanu
Trio 2: Song for Peter (1983)
- Novello & Co Ltd (World)
Commissioned by Peter Wiegold for Gemini with funds from the Arts Council
- cl/vc
- Soprano
- 18 min
- Emily Dickinson, Ted Hughes and Anton Chekhov
- English
Programme Note
This trio, for soprano, clarinet and cello, was written for Peter Wiegold and Gemini, who commissioned it with funds provided by the Arts Council of Great Britain. It was composed in January, and lasts about ten minutes. The text was compiled from words by Emily Dickinson, Anton Chekhov, Ted Hughes and Sarah Teasdale.
Ah -
It was not death for I stood up
And all the dead, lie down
It was not night, for all the bells
Put out their tongues for moon
No more shall white cranes wake and cry
No more shall white cranes wake…
Like rain it sounded till it curved
And then I knew 'twas wind
It walked as wet as any wave
And swept as dry as sand
Far…this house has been far out all night
Far out at sea
No longer, no more
Cranes no longer wake in the meadows
Wake and cry
As if my life were shaven
And fitted to a frame
And could not breathe
There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground
And swallows calling
And frogs in the pools singing at night
And wild plum trees
And not one will know of war, not one will care
Not one will mind
If mankind perished
And spring herself when she woke at dawn
Would scarcely know that we were gone.
No more shall white cranes wake and cry
Like midnight
When everything that ticks has stopped
and space stares
Wind…we watch…
Wind flexing like the lens of a mad eye
We watch…seeing the window tremble to come in
We watch…hearing the stones cry out under the horizon
No more, no longer shall white cranes wake
Far, far out
This house has been far out all night
Far out at sea
All living bodies have turned to dust
All, all, all have gone
Into stones, into water, into clouds
© 1983 Nicola LeFanu
Ah -
It was not death for I stood up
And all the dead, lie down
It was not night, for all the bells
Put out their tongues for moon
No more shall white cranes wake and cry
No more shall white cranes wake…
Like rain it sounded till it curved
And then I knew 'twas wind
It walked as wet as any wave
And swept as dry as sand
Far…this house has been far out all night
Far out at sea
No longer, no more
Cranes no longer wake in the meadows
Wake and cry
As if my life were shaven
And fitted to a frame
And could not breathe
There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground
And swallows calling
And frogs in the pools singing at night
And wild plum trees
And not one will know of war, not one will care
Not one will mind
If mankind perished
And spring herself when she woke at dawn
Would scarcely know that we were gone.
No more shall white cranes wake and cry
Like midnight
When everything that ticks has stopped
and space stares
Wind…we watch…
Wind flexing like the lens of a mad eye
We watch…seeing the window tremble to come in
We watch…hearing the stones cry out under the horizon
No more, no longer shall white cranes wake
Far, far out
This house has been far out all night
Far out at sea
All living bodies have turned to dust
All, all, all have gone
Into stones, into water, into clouds
© 1983 Nicola LeFanu
Media
LeFanu: Trio 2. Song for Peter