Chunyuan Xiao
The Cold Earth Slept Below
Duration: 4'
Solos:
tenor
The Cold Earth Slept Below
Translation, reprints and more
Chunyuan Xiao
Die kalte Erde schlief unten
Available digitally
Orchestration: Für Tenor Solo und Klavier
Type: Dirigierpartitur
Chunyuan Xiao
Tenor (Die kalte Erde schlief unten)
Available digitally
Type: Solostimme(n)
Sample pages
Video
Work introduction
Composed as part of the vocal compositions series on the seasons, The Cold Earth Slept Below is based on the poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley of the same title. In this poem, a man is walking in the still, icy, cold, freezing winter in the night. As he walked, everything he saw seemed lifeless as though the earth is in the end of days. Above him, the moon is going down as well, making darkness even darker.
The man later passes a swamp, & to his horror, his lover is in it & death has taken her life.
In the composition, the composer starts off with a 16 bars introduction, with each 4 bars increases. This introduction by the piano represents the cold icy winter. At bar 17 the singer comes in, with the main title and describes the moon going down as its first stanza. Then a repeat of the 16 bars introduction is heard again. After the introduction, this time the singer is beside a wintry hedge and the sky is in total darkness. Beside him, there is no grass and birds are resting on a bare, thorn tree which is beside the pathway track. Then the man saw a dead body under the moonlight. It is his lover. Though filled with grief, he is relieved that the sky can visit [her] at will.
What is necessary to perform this work?
The composer is a member from COMPASS, which is a royalty rights association situated in Singapore & its duties are the same like GEMA, AKM, PRS & ASCAP.
All performance & mechanical rights must be purchased in order to perform.