Setting of A Subaltern's Love Song by Sir John Betjeman. Baritone and piano.

01 - Love Song

"Two Songs with Words" [November 2024 | New Haven, CT, US] is a set of art songs, originally composed for Olivier Zerouali (baritone) and Laura Miah (soprano) through Yale Song Lab collaboration between composers and opera singers at the Yale School of Music. It consists of two songs, which can be performed independently but, when staged together, should be presented in order and quasi attacca.

Texts:

I. for Olivier

Morning light creeps into those eyes, I know not whom they belong
A body floats on a cloud of plush, weightless, unknown.
Only yesterday I knew who it belonged, 
what the proclivities and strivings contained, 
What these hands have felt.
Today I know not if I was a man who stood on two feet 
This plaintive white ceiling,
Mind attempting to remove borders
To make the world blank.
Something beyond sleep Formless
Not to die
Not to live
Just to be Free of all.

lyrics by Olivier Zerouali (2024)

II. for Laura

Now the people whisper that I am your enemy
for they say that in the verse I give the world myself.
She who rises in my verses is not your voice: it is my voice 
because you are clothing, and the essence is me;
and the deepest abyss lies between the two.
You are cold doll of social lie,
and I, a virile flash of human truth.
I am the life, the force, the woman.
You curl your hair and paint yourself, I do not;
The wind curls me, the sun paints me.
You are a domestic lady, resigned, submissive;
Tied to the prejudices of men, I am not.
only my heart commands me,
But I am fire, the warming sun
Painted, with my curled hair
The woman, the force, the life.

based on "A Julia de Burgos" by Julia de Burgos (1943), 
translation and lyrics by Laura Miah (2024)

II. for Laura

I. for Olivier

Voice 046 let some pleasing dream

So Sweet (low)

Trying to survive

✨ Nell, Op. 18 No. 1 – Gabriel Fauré ✨

A gem of French mélodie, Nell is one of Gabriel Fauré’s most exquisite art songs, composed in 1878. The text, a poem by Leconte de Lisle, is a tender and evocative meditation on love, nature, and beauty, capturing a sense of quiet adoration and emotional depth.

Fauré’s setting enhances the poem’s natural lyricism with rich harmonic colors and delicate phrasing, evoking an atmosphere of both intimacy and transcendence. The flowing piano accompaniment shimmers like sunlight on a rose, while the melody soars with a gentle, dreamlike devotion.

Lyrics & English Translation
🎶 French Lyrics

Ta rose de pourpre, à ton clair soleil,
Ô Juin, étincelle enivrée;
Penche aussi vers moi ta coupe dorée:
Mon cœur à ta rose est pareil.

Sous le mol abri de la feuille ombreuse
Monte un soupir de volupté;
Plus d’un ramier chante au bois écarté,
Ô mon cœur, sa plainte amoureuse.

Que ta perle est douce au ciel enflammé,
Étoile de la nuit pensive!
Mais combien plus douce est la clarté vive
Qui rayonne en mon cœur charmé!

La chantante mer, le long du rivage,
Taira son murmure éternel,
Avant qu’en mon cœur, chère amour, ô Nell,
Ne fleurisse plus ton image!

🎼 English Translation

Your crimson rose, in your bright sun,
Oh June, sparkles with intoxication;
Bow toward me, too, your golden chalice:
My heart is like your rose.

Beneath the soft shelter of the shadowy leaf
Rises a sigh of delight;
More than one dove sings in the distant woods,
Oh my heart, its amorous lament.

How sweet is your pearl in the burning sky,
Star of the pensive night!
But how much sweeter is the bright light
That radiates in my enchanted heart!

The singing sea, along the shore,
Will hush its eternal murmur,
Before in my heart, dear love, oh Nell,
Your image ceases to bloom!

#Fauré #GabrielFauré #NellOp18 #FrenchMelodie #ClassicalMusic #RomanticEra #ArtSong #FrenchArtSong #VocalMusic #PianoAccompaniment #Chanson #PoetryInMusic #LecontedeLisle #Lied #Opera #MusicLovers #SoundCloudMusic

Nell, Op. 18 No. 1 - Gabriel Fauré

Stormfront I (Hope for rain)

Text: Michael Dransfield
Soprano: Sophia Körber
Piano: Henriette Zahn

Concierto del sur

z12 Solo Rowat Thiman Jesus the Very Thought of Thee_cut

A LXS Projects é um projeto musical brasileiro que atua no gênero clássico contemporâneo, destacando-se por composições autorais que exploram atmosferas introspectivas e experimentais.
A LXS Projects representa uma iniciativa independente no cenário musical brasileiro, combinando composições autorais com uma abordagem colaborativa, visando ampliar sua atuação tanto em estúdio quanto em apresentações ao vivo.

Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Introspection. It's good to ask questions. Sometimes you can say more with less. Sometimes you just want to escape.

I am primarily a pianist, but have focused more on guitar and bass in recent years. I've played keyboards in a Genesis Tribute band and in an original prog rock band.

I went to school for sound recording technology, music composition, and piano performance.

I have been writing and recording my own material for, well, forever, but I only consider a small percentage of the work worthy enough to share. The rest I consider part of my ongoing education.

My work can be measured and mathematical, but not without emotion. I enjoy astronomy and physics, and this comes through sometimes in the music and lyrics.

Every year I take on the challenge of FAWM.
www.fawm.org/fawmers/nagavaeoe
It drives me to break out of the daily grind and create music.

I'm currently playing keyboards with falconers.band

Composer and scholar of new acoustic and electronic music at the Yale School of Music

New tracks tagged #artsong