Themes of loneliness, isolation, and loss emerge within the late works of Samuel Barber.
One of the poignant examples may be heard in To Be Sung on the Water, Op. 42, an a cappella setting of a poem by Louise Bogan (1897-1970). Composed in December of 1968, the music unfolds over an ostinato which suggests the light, hypnotic movement of a rowboat by means of the night time. We turn out to be conscious of the persistent stream of time.
This efficiency options the Austin, Texas-based vocal ensemble, Conspirare:
Lovely, my delight,
Cross, as we cross the wave.
Cross, because the mottled night time
Leaves what it can’t save,
Scattering darkish and vivid.Lovely, cross and be
Lower than the guiltless shade
To which our vows have been mentioned;
Lower than the sound of the oar
To which our vows have been made, –
Lower than the sound of its blade
Dipping the stream as soon as extra.
-Louise Bogan
Recordings
- Barber: To Se sung on the Water, Op. 42, No. 2, Conspirare, Craig Hella Johnson Conspirare.org
