2010 | baritone and cello.
Poem by Paul Celan (1920-1970), composed at the request of baritone Wolfgang Holzmair. This is my first dual language setting and the translation I use is by John Felstiner. In order to best accomodate the prosody of each language, the settings are slightly different.
Baritone Wolfgang Holzmair and cellist Sophie Wieder-Atherton premiered the songs in NYC on February 21, 2012, in DC on February 23, 2012 and in London at Wigmore Hall on July 14, 2012.
ERRATA: Prior English version had a typo in m. 11 voice: the last word of that measure should be “air” not “grave” — and the word “ist” should be “is” in m. 187.
Premiere recording with baritone Randall Scarlata and cellist Thomas Kraines is on the December 2019 Naxos release Living in the Body — The Songs of Lori Laitman. To purchase, please click here.