Texts for this evening's program

Az Hit
from The Sayings of Péter Bornemisza, Op. 7 (1963-68)

GYÖRGY KURTÁG
text by Péter Bornemisza
translated by Tony Arnold
sung in Hungarian

“Faith is no dream, but a living creature which cleaves to God; and is mighty, and as the light of the world, illuminates others. The heart gains such trust, that sinners believe in their own redemption.”

Attila József Fragments, Op. 20 (1981-82)

GYÖRGY KURTÁG
translated by Peter Sherwood
sung in Hungarian

1. The water thickens, swelling into ice,
and my sins gather into death.

6. Amazed am I
that I shall die.

4. Time
sprouts on the run, like beans.

12. And amazed am I
that I shall die.

18. Mercy, mother, mama, look, oh woe,
this poem too is done!

19. The water thickens, swelling into ice,
and my sins gather into death.

20. Song, lean out of my lips
and sorrow, don’t reach me until tomorrow.
I must bow down still further
to be able to sing without knowing anything.

Der Sommer (The summer) (1989)

GYÖRGY LIGETI
text by Friedrich Höderlin
translated by Richard Stokes
sung in German

Still the time of year can be seen, and the fields
Of summer stand in their radiance, their mildness;
The green of the field is spread in glory,
Where the brook glides down with its wavelets.

Thus the day wanders out through mountains and valleys,
Irresistibly with its rays,
And clouds drift on quietly, high above,
The year seems to hold back its splendor.

Gertrude’s Wishes (2026)

AMY WILLIAMS
text by Gertrude Stein (from Stanzas in Meditation)

Stanza XLVII

I will may I request.
That they should offer this.
I have not felt to which may be true
That they will yield if either if they wish
Will they to you

Requiem for the Beloved, Op. 26 (1982-87)

GYÖRGY KURTÁG
Texts by Rimma Dalos
translated by Julia and Peter Sherwood
sung in Russian

I. O dear God, how quiet all of a sudden
the worst is behind us, all fears gone.
But give me a hint, my dear,
how to live without love?

II. A Cruel Romance
The flowers have wilted,
their perfume has faded.
What is left for me but hopes
and dreams?

III. He has taken my strength
and given it to another,
and castigated me,
and devastated me.

IV. Goodbye, my dear,
forgive me.
I have nothing to mourn.
I have nothing to forget.

Kafka-Fragments, Part IV, Op. 24 (1985-87)

GYÖRGY KURTÁG
translated by Julia and Peter Sherwood
sung in German

1. Too Late (22nd October 1913)

Too late. The sweetness of sorrow and of love. To be smiled at by her in a rowing-boat. That was the most wonderful of all. Always just the yearning to die and the surviving, that alone is love.

5. Leopards

Leopards break into the temple and drink the sacrificial jugs dry; this is repeated, again and again, until it is possible to calculate in advance when they will come, and it becomes part of the ceremony.

6. In Memoriam Joannis Pilinszky

I can't actually… tell a story, in fact I am almost unable even to speak; when I try to tell it, I usually feel the way small children might when they try to take their first steps.

7. Again, Again

Again, again, exiled far away, exiled far away. Mountains, desert, a vast country to be wandered through.

8. The moonlit night dazzled us

The moonlit night dazzled us. Birds shrieked in the trees. There was a rush of wind in the fields. We crawled through the dust, a pair of snakes.