Fragments of Solitude

Dedication from Fragments of Solitude
based on The Solitudes by Luis de Gongora, trans. Edith Grossman (2012)

As first piece of the cycle, Dedication is the pilgrim’s setting out point for the journey into solitude and the self. This piece is simple, a blank canvas, and will serve as a contrast with Wandering, the final piece, which uses the same text and melody influenced by the rest of the cycle’s material.

Here we discover innocence.

Lyrics
Text from The Solitudes by Luis de Góngora
as translated by Edith Grossman

Dedication to the Duke of Bejar (lines 1-4)

Steps of a wandering pilgrim are these,
The verses my sweet muse dictated to me:
in perplexing solitude
Some lost, yet others enlivened and inspired.

Credits
Composer: Cameron Lam
Author: Luis de Góngora
Translator: Edith Grossman

Soprano: Amelia Golding
Piano: Alison Cameron
Sound Engineer: James Passfield 

Dedication (Fragments of Solitude)

Offering from Fragments of Solitude
based on The Solitudes by Luis de Gongora, trans. Edith Grossman (2012)

Offering features the singer as the pilgrim, being subsumed by the tidal ocean (the piano) as the waves roll in and the water rises and falls. At various points the singers gives in to the ocean before emerging grateful for the stable rocks underfoot.

Here we discover resilience.

Lyrics:
Text from The Solitudes by Luis de Góngora
as translated by Edith Grossman

The First Solitude (lines 28-33)

He kisses the sand, and from the shattered ship
the spare and meager fragment
that brought him to the beach he offers the rocks:
even crags confess themselves
flattered by signs and shows of gratitude.

Credits:
Composer: Cameron Lam
Author: Luis de Góngora
Translator: Edith Grossman
Soprano: Amelia Golding
Piano: Alison Cameron
Sound Engineer: James Passfield
Photographer: Hayden Shepherd

Offering (Fragments of Solitude)

Liquor from Fragments of Solitude
based on The Solitudes by Luis de Gongora, trans. Edith Grossman (2012)

Liquor is part bawdy tavern song and part reflection on the beauty of nature and dawn. Either a warning against or exaltation of the various forms of fantasy or escape we seek in solitude.

Here we discover escapism.

Lyrics:
Text from The Solitudes by Luis de Góngora
as translated by Edith Grossman

The First Solitude (lines 321-328)

Liquor that Aurora wept
-if nectar is what she weeps -
before the Sun, is dried
by the bee, early riser
to sip at flowers and drink crystal drops,
in cells of liquid gold, in honeycombs
contained in the gallipot
carried by a mountain lad.

Credits:
Composer: Cameron Lam
Author: Luis de Góngora
Translator: Edith Grossman
Soprano: Amelia Golding
Piano: Alison Cameron
Sound Engineer: James Passfield
Photographer: Hayden Shepherd

Liquor (Fragments of Solitude)

Rest from Fragments of Solitude
based on The Solitudes by Luis de Gongora, trans. Edith Grossman (2012)

Rest can be considered to be a chant or a mantra, it focuses you inwards into listening and following your own breathing and by extension someone else’s. Allow space between each breath.

Here we discover stillness.

Lyrics:
Text from The Solitudes by Luis de Góngora
as translated by Edith Grossman

The First Solitude (lines 572-583)

A spacious circle made a peaceful center
for more avenues than a star has beams
of white poplars or perhaps of alders,
and this is where the Spring
-shod in Aprils, clad in Mays-
brings the gleam of crystal waves
to flinty rock rimmed round with jonquil blooms.
This center, then, the shaded
destination was of cowherds proximal,
delicious object of those come from afar,
where, even more weary than the traveler,
the road came to a rest.

Credits:
Composer: Cameron Lam
Author: Luis de Góngora
Translator: Edith Grossman
Soprano: Amelia Golding
Piano: Alison Cameron
Sound Engineer: James Passfield
Photographer: Hayden Shepherd

Rest (Fragments of Solitude)

Fortune from Fragments of Solitude
based on The Solitudes by Luis de Gongora, trans. Edith Grossman (2012)

A somewhat off-kilter hymn or prayer for another traveler.

Here we discover generosity.

Lyrics:
Text from The Solitudes by Luis de Góngora
as translated by Edith Grossman

The First Solitude (lines 897-903)

May the response of Fortune
to your farming be applause.
To the importune plow,
to the troublesome hoe
may a grateful field produce
for you – in uneven days –
well-threshed gold and nectar pressed.

Credits:
Composer: Cameron Lam
Author: Luis de Góngora
Translator: Edith Grossman
Soprano: Amelia Golding
Piano: Alison Cameron
Sound Engineer: James Passfield
Photographer: Hayden Shepherd

Offering (Fragments of Solitude)

Cameron Lam - Composer