Friday, August 7, 2009

After great pain, a formal feeling comes, by Emily Dickinson


Giuseppe Verdi - Lacrymosa dies illa, Messa da Requiem
Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Agnes Baltsa, José Carreras, José Van Dam; Wiener Philharmoniker
Balgarska Chorova Kapela Svetoslav Obretenov and Herbert von Karajan


After great pain, a formal feeling comes --
The Nerves sit ceremonious, like Tombs
The stiff Heart questions, was it He, that bore,
And Yesterday, or Centuries before?

The Feet, mechanical, go round --
Of Ground, or Air, or Ought --
A Wooden way
Regardless grown,
A Quartz contentment, like a stone --

This is the Hour of Lead --
Remembered, if outlived,
As Freezing persons, recollect the Snow --
First -- Chill -- then Stupor -- then the letting go --


Giuseppe Verdi - Lux aeterna, Messa da Requiem


poem from PoemHunter.com
for music info see resonances

17 comments:

vv said...

As Freezing persons, recollect the Snow --
First -- Chill -- then Stupor -- then the letting go -

unbelievable. thanks you for sharing this

vv

Manuela said...

unbelievable indeed... a gift to have found it, and to be able to share it, as someone else said :)

Prospero said...

Manuela, consider the aeternam section of the Verdi Requiem as music. I like this poem and find it very moving.

Manuela said...

thanks Prospero, I'm going to have a look now - or a listen :)

Manuela said...

what i would really like to do is bring the whole requiem here and wrap it around the poem. i feel it all belongs here...

- thank you for the resonance, Prospero

Manuela said...


Lacrymosa dies illa
with
Claudio Abbado & Orchestra Sinfonica della RAI di Roma
Renata Scotto - Soprano, Marilyn Horne - Mezzo-soprano
Luciano Pavarotti - Tenor, Nicolai Ghiaurov - Bass
Live, Roma - 10 October 1970

Lux aeterna (added Aug13) with
Paul Daniel & Orchestre National de Lyon & Choeur Philharmonique de Prague
Luba Orgonasova - soprano, Vesselina Kasarova - mezzo-soprano
Fabio Sartori - tenor, Dean Peterson - bass
Festival du musique Montreux - Vevey, 15 September 1998

Prospero said...

Manuele, the lux aeterna is not the section i'm thinking of, though.

What i'm thinking of is in the Libera me section.

Manuela said...

yes, i wasn't entirely sure which section you meant, but as i was listening to this and that and then the other section, i felt like i should put them all here. this was the last i listened to so i brought this here - and i also liked the idea of having eternal light at the end of the poem.

Manuela said...

that section goes really well, too - thanks!

Prospero said...

Here's a link for the Requiem Aeternam:

http://www.vivacechorus.org/site/join-us/extracts/126-verdi-requiem-aeternam

This just destroys me.

Roxana said...

it is fascinating to witness the dialogue between you and Prospero on this blog :-)

but hey, where is the new post gone? i still have it in my mails, you know :-P no use hiding it.

i am exhausted after fighting blogger (si restul!) - now i will go take some sleep.

waiving at both of you :-)

Manuela said...

roxana! such a joy to have you back! i hope you're getting good rest, and will be ready to take on blogger (si restul) again tomorrow. mega support is being sent your way :)

so, you have the poem, do you... indeed no point hiding it, then. i felt it was more an outburst and less a poem, but i'll put it back.

Manuela said...

what a beautiful recording, Prospero - thank you! i was heartbroken by the time it stopped and yet didn't want it to end.

Manuela said...

sorry, i couldn't leave the other post. i don't like it and i've fiddled so much with it i think i tore it to shreds. good riddance. at least it lead me to the music, no doubt the right poem for that will come along at some point.

m said...

the problem with posting Emily's poem is that anything coming after hers feels clumsy, wordy, and superfluous...

Roxana said...

yes, the right poem will come along, i am sure of it. i know how hard it is when something just doesn't want to fit, i had tried to write something for some butterfly pictures and i have been fiddling with it for months now, to no avail :-) and i don't think i have such acute consciousness of my responsability towards the poem, as you do. still...
but then you have your music, and i have my images :-)

Manuela said...

it's funny, i'd rather have used those words for you, roxana - acute consciousness of my responsability

it's hard to let go and wait until it's ready to fit, or until i'm able to hear the fit. or to accept that there's no fit (though i don't really believe in that)