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Rainer Maria Rilke

Piano

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Dirait-on

Abandon entour6 d'abandon,tendresse touchant aux tendresses. . .

C'est ton int6rieur qui sans cessese caresse, dirait-on;

se caress en soi-mdme,par son proper reflet 6clair6.Ainsi tu inventes le thdmedu Narcisse exauc6.

Rainer Maria Rilke. from les Ro.ses

A b andon sur rounding ab ando n,

tendernes s touching tenderness ...

Your oneness endlesslycaresses itselJ, so they say,'

self-caressingthrough its own clear reflection.Thus you invent the themeoJ' N ar c i s s r,ts ful /il I e d.

English tran.glation by Barbara and Erica Muhl

In addition to his vast output of Getman poetry, Rilke (1875-1926) wrote nearly 400 poems inFrench. His poems on roses struck me as especially charming, filled with gorgeous lyricism, deftlycrafted and elegant in their imagery. These exquisite poems are primarily light, joyous and playful,and the musical settings are designed to enhance these characteristics and capture their delicatebeauty and sensuousness. Distinct melodic and harmonic materials recur throughout the cycle,especially between Rilke's poignant Contre Qui, Rose (set as a wistful nocturne) and his movingLa Rose Compldte. The final piece, Dirait-on, is composed as a tuneful chan,son populaire, orfolksong, that weaves together two melodic ideas first heard in fragmentary form in precedingmovements.

Les Chansons des Roses was composed for Por11and, Oregon's superb professional chamberchorus, Choral Cross-Ties, conducted by Bruce Browne, who gave the premiere on April 23,I 993.

Dirait-on is published in versions for mixed chorus (SATB), men's chorus (TTBB) and treblechorus (SSAA). It also exists as a song for high or medium voice and piano, high voice and guitar,and as a duet for mixed high or medium voices and piano.

Morten LauridsenLos Angeles

Composer Morten Lauridsen is most noted for his seven vocal cycles-Zes Chansons des Roses,Madrigali, Mid-Winter Songs, Cuatro Canciones, A Winter Come, Nocturnes, and Lux Aeterna-and his series of a cappella motets which are regularly performed by distinguished ensembles andvocal artists throughout the world. His O Magnum Mysterium and Dirait-on have become two ofthe most performed and recorded compositions of recent years. "Lux Aeterna," a CD of hiscompositions recorded by the Los Angeles Master Chorale conducted by Paul Salamunovich, wasa Grammy nominee in 1998. Mr. Lauridsen (b. 1943) is Professor of Composition at theUniversity of Southern Califomia Thornton School of Music and served as Composer-in-Residence of the Los Angeles Master Chorale from 1994 to 2001. ln 2007, Lauridsen wasawarded the National Medal of Arls for his "radiant choral works combining musical power,beauty and spiritual depth that have thrilled audiences worldwide."