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

Fortune (Fragments of Solitude)

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

Death deals with the struggles of remorse, self-judgement and reflection which come with time spent alone. The repeated death chants are as much thinking music as a dirge for the dead.

Here we discover remorse.

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

The Second Solitude (lines 149-155)

Die, beloved enemy,
let my fault die, and your disdain, too late
a penitent, keep for it
a mere sigh that makes my death content
though it is not follow by
a fleeting or indifferent or weary
tear that dries before it is even wept.

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

Death (Fragments of Solitude)

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

Rebel is powerful and erratic, the unleashing of quietly simmering anger and controlled reactions and thoughts. Resistance to change, to chance, to the workings of others; in solitude we work through our objections and emotions.

Here we discover resistance.

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

The Second Solitude (lines 651-661)

For your sake we see the pilgrim leave behind
castles, where sight overcome
by the sublime, calls upon their beauty;
where architecture rebels
against geometry, wearing shoes of
jasper, clothes of porphyry.
Poor hut, crowded with nets
he enters now, and you abandon him!
Take wing, young god, and flying from complaints,
return them both to their barks
while your rigor allows sleep!

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

Rebel (Fragments of Solitude)

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

Quiet and meditative, aware of impending change, Tranquil is not without tension, silence does not last forever, the lake will be disturbed. Through calm solitude we learn to forgive.

Here we discover contemplation.

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

The Second Solitude (lines 825-831)

The crowd has not yet disturbed the banks of the
tranquil lake whose looking glass
the timid kingbird forgives.
No arrow shot by bowstrings
presumes to equal its unequal tips,
for in vain does a feather adorn a shaft
as it adorns a wing.

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

Tranquil (Fragments of Solitude)

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

Wandering completes the cycle, the pilgrim’s inner nature (the vocal line) has not changed, but his awareness and his context have. These piece features motives from all of the other pieces in the cycle allow them to colour your re-interpretation of this piece.

Here we discover growth.

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
Photographer: Hayden Shepherd

Fragments of Solitude

Cameron Lam - Composer