THE DREAM
for mezzo/alto voice and cello
Duration 12 min
1. Hear me! 7 min
2. Hush – Hear Me 5 min
I found a short poem on the internet that stunned me. In a few vivid lines, it warned of evil times ahead. It was an apocalyptic dream-vision, in my mind akin to the Völva’s prophecy from the Poetic Edda.
The poet was Rosa Taikon (1926–2017), a silversmith and human rights activist. In 2007, I got in touch with her about using her poem for a different piece—When the Raven Black Turns White. We talked for a long time.
The poem never left me and suddenly one day it felt urgent again. It wanted new, slightly different music. To help me find a new angle, I used an English translation. Every language brings its own character to the music.
The Dream has two movements. The first movement is a song and a lamentation. It powerfully conjures the dream-vision. The second movement is quieter and more introspective. It is wordless music built on humming sounds. Cello and voice are asked to find a common sound, to “sing/play into each other’s sound.”
I wrote The Dream for two musicians from Norway: the folk singer Unni Løvlid and the cellist and new music specialist Marianne Baudoin Lie. It is included in their concert series Svarteboka.
Text:
I had a bad dream
I stood by the sea
Suddenly the sky went black
and the sun burned up
Birds screeching in the sky
The beating of their wings warning us of
evil times to come.
Rosa Taikon
translated from Swedish by Linda Schenck
