2007 LUNE PLAINE CIEL ET MORT for mixed choir

LUNE, PLAINE, CIEL ET MORT (2007) for mixed choir, was written at the request of the Netherlands Chamber Choir for inclusion in a celebratory concert to take place in November 2008 at the occasion of my seventieth birthday. It is based on two poems by Paul Verlaine, La lune blanche / Luit dans les bois and Dans l’interminable / Ennui de la plaine and one by Walt Whitman entitled The last invocation.

Contrary to my other works for choir a capella it was my intention to write something which doesn’t require any major subdivision of voices or excessive rehearsing. It was also an excercise in writing on French lyrics, although the two Verlaine poems only seem to form the background for Walt Whitman’s invocation about death, embracing its arrival and imploring a gentle ‘settlement’.

It is an offering to the choir for their longstanding dedication to my music and their faith in its power.

The lyrics can be accessed here.