METTEZ UN CASQUE OU DES ECOUTEURS POUR UNE MEILLEURE ECOUTE

Cold

Since my childhood, I have been very fond of Rainer Maria Rilke’s set of poems entitledDas Stundenbuch(The Book of Hours). The poems are deeply personal in nature and focus on one’s reflection of themselves and their relationship with God and the world around them.Each poem is an hour’s meditation on a profound idea. Interestingly, Rilke renounces thePlatonic association of God with light and instead focuses on God’s depth and profundity, choosing to express the peace and stability of darkness. This song cycle aims to express Rilke’s deep reverence and love for God.

Original Text
I.
Ich lebe mein Leben in wachsenden Ringen,
die sich über die Dinge ziehn.
Ich werde den letzten vielleicht nichtvollbringen,
aber versuchen will ich ihn.

Ich kreise um Gott, um den uralten Turm,
und ich kreise jahrtausendelang;
und ich weiß noch nicht: 
bin ich ein Falke, ein Sturm
oder ein großer Gesang.

II.
Du siehst, ich will viel.
Vielleicht will ich Alles:
das Dunkel jedes unendlichen Falles
und jedes Steigens lichtzitterndes Spiel.

Es leben so viele und wollen nichts,
und sind durch ihres leichten Gerichts
glatte Gefühle gefürstet.

Aber du freust dich jedes Gesichts,
das dient und dürstet.

Du freust dich Aller, die dich gebrauchen
wie ein Gerät.

Noch bist du nicht kalt, 
und es ist nicht zu spät,
in deine werdenden Tiefen zu tauchen,
wo sich das Leben ruhig verrät.

III.
Du Dunkelheit, aus der ich stamme,
ich liebe dich mehr als die Flamme,
welche die Welt begrenzt,
indem sie glänzt
für irgend einen Kreis,
aus dem heraus 
kein Wesen von ihr weiß.

Aber die Dunkelheit hält alles an sich:
Gestalten und Flammen, Tiere und mich,
wie sie’s errafft, Menschen und Mächte— 

Und es kann sein: eine große Kraft
rührt sich in meiner Nachbarschaft.

Ich glaube an Nächte.

IV.
Ich komme aus meinen Schwingen heim,
mit denen ich mich verlor.

Ich war Gesang, und Gott, der Reim,
rauscht noch in meinem Ohr.

Ich werde wieder still und schlicht, 
und meine Stimme steht;
es senkte sich 
mein Angesichtzu besserem Gebet.

Den andern war ich wie ein Wind,
da ich sie rüttelnd rief.

Weit war ich, wo die Engel sind,
hoch, wo das Licht in Nichts zerrinnt— 
Got aber dunkelt teif.



Translated Text
I.
I live my life in widening circles
that reach out across the world. 
I may not complete this last one
but I give myself to it.

I circle around God, around the primordial tower.
I’ve been circling for thousands of years
and I still don’t know: am I a falcon, a storm, 
or a great song?

II.
You see, I want a lot. Maybe I want it all: 
the darkness of each endless fall, 
the shimmering light of each ascent.

So many are alive who don’t seem to care. 
Casual, easy, they move in the world
as though untouched.

But you take pleasure in the faces
of those who know they thirst. 
You cherish those who grip you for survival.
You are not dead yet, it’s not too late
to open your depths by plunging into them
and drink in the life that reveals itself quietly there.

III.
You, darkness, of whom I am born— 
I love you more than the flame
that limits the world to the circle it illumines
and excludes all the rest.

But the dark embraces everything:
shapes and shadows, creatures and me, people, nations — 
just as they are.
 It lets me imagine a great presence 
stirring beside me.

I believe in the night. 

IV.
I come home from the soaring
in which I lost myself.

I was song, and the refrain which is God
is still roaring in my ears.

Now I am still and plain:
no more words.

To the others I was like a wind: 
I made them shake.
I’d gone very far, as far as the angels,
and high, where light thins into nothing.

But deep in the darkness is God.

Translation by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy

Senior Composition Recital

Das Stundenbuch

This piece is a loosely programmatic work which portrays the magic of bioluminescent organisms dancing in the ocean at night. A sparkle of light emerges from the darkness with solo clarinet and grows to a triumphant glow. Particles dance and flit wildly through the dark water like aquatic fireflies. Nearing the end of the work, the blackness of night seems to swallow all light; then the sparkle returns in a moment of radiant brilliance which fades again to a gentle shimmer as the piece concludes.

This work was originally orchestrated for full symphony orchestra and was premiered by the Whitworth Symphony Orchestra on March 3rd, 2018. It has been arranged for twelve players for this recital.

Bioluminescence - Arrangement for 12 Players

This piece is a loosely programmatic work which portrays the magic of bioluminescent organisms dancing in the ocean at night. A sparkle of light emerges from the darkness with solo clarinet and grows to a triumphant glow. Particles dance and flit wildly through the dark water like aquatic fireflies. Nearing the end of the work, the blackness of night seems to swallow all light; then the sparkle returns in a moment of radiant brilliance which fades again to a gentle shimmer as the piece concludes.

This composition was selected as a winner of the Whitworth Concerto Competition and was premiered by the Whitworth Symphony Orchestra on March 3rd, 2018.

Bioluminescence

This piece is an exploration of the possibilities of a duet between bassoon and double bass. Being a non-traditional orchestration, I sought to pass melodic and harmonic content between the instruments and utilize techniques and tones specific to those instruments. Another idea behind the piece is the concept of a dialogue, either internal or between two people, that comes from a shared exploration of a topic or subject. The sharing of the melodic content between the bassoon and double bass in this piece is intended to create the impression of the instruments conversing with each other in dialogue.

Junior Composition Recital

Dialogue

These variations for piano focus on the modulation of the theme, which is stated resolutely at the beginning of the work. Each variation seeks to introduce this theme with a different character through varied articulation, modulation of harmony, and the addition of chromaticism. I was interested to create a piece that used one motif in different ways to convey different emotions. I also utilized piano idioms to signify changes between movements.

I. Con brio
II. Affettuoso
III. Expressivo
IV. Con fuoco

Variations for Piano

This piece is a setting of the psalm text Å leva, det er a elska, found in the Norwegian Psalmbook. This text was published in a collection of poems written in 1892 by Norwegian politician and poet Anders Vassbotn. Having spent the semester of fall 2016 studying abroad in the northern Norwegian town of Bodø, I was inspired to convey my experience of the strikingly beautiful landscape and the Norwegian culture through music. Also while in Norway, I had the privilege of being invited to sing in a choir for a Christmas concert and service. In this piece, the use of the dorian mode and the setting of a psalm text for choir allowed me to explore Norway’s history of emotive church and folk music as well as my own Norwegian heritage.

Norwegian Text

Å leva, det er å elska
 det beste di sjel fekk nå;
 å leva det er i arbeid 
mot rikare mål å trå.

Å leva, det er i livet 
å finna det største verd; 
å leva, det er å vinna
 til sanning i all si ferd.

Å leva, det er å leggja
 all urett og lygn i grav; 
å leva, det er som havet
 å spegla Guds himmel av.

Translation

To live, it is to love
The best your soul can reach;
To live, it is to work
Towards richer goals.

To live, it is in life
To find the greatest worth;
To live, it is to win
The truth in all your journeys. 

To live, it is to lay
All injustice and untruth in the grave;
To live, it is like the ocean
To mirror God’s heaven.

Å leva, det er å elska

"Like the tide rises and falls, so is the rhythm of life; like the sand of the shore, so we are molded anew."

2018

The Tide

The Spark Collective: Sabrina Raber, flute; Matthew Castner, saxophone; Dakota Corbliss, horn; Ben Haimann, percussion; Grace Shepard, piano.

Terrarium is a work that explores the transition between two musical ecosystems and the feeling of being transplanted into an unfamiliar environment.  While the core musical material of the work is constructed from the same four-note motive throughout, sections of the piece represent different attitudes of repose, excitement, anxiety, and adaptation.  This piece represents an enclosed musical space— much like a physical terrarium— where the listener can observe the reactions of the transplanted organism from a distance.

https://peterunderhill.org/portfolio/terrarium/

Terrarium

Peter Underhill is a composer from the Pacific Northwest.

Terrarium

Peter Underhill

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