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The Keats Cycle

for baritone or bass baritone and piano on poetry by John Keats (1795 – 1821)

Haralabos [Harry] Stafylakis

2007

PERUSALSCORE

The Keats Cycle

for baritone or bass baritone and piano on poetry by John Keats (1795 – 1821)

1. How fever’d is the man .............................................5

2. The day is gone .........................................................11

3. Why did I laugh to-night? ......................................17

4. Here lies one whose name was writ in water ........23

5. This living hand .....................................................24

6. Bright Star ..............................................................29

Haralabos [Harry] Stafylakis

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Poetry by John Keats (1795

– 1821)

1. How fever'd is the man

How fever'd is the man, who cannot look Upon his mortal days with temperate blood, Who vexes all the leaves of his life's book, And robs his fair name of its maidenhood; It is as if the rose should pluck herself, Or the ripe plum finger its misty bloom, As if the Naiad, like a meddling elf, Should darken her pure grot with muddy gloom, But the rose leaves herself upon the briar, For winds to kiss and grateful bees to feed, And the ripe plum still wears its dim a<ire, The undisturbed lake has crystal space, Why then should man, teasing the world for grace, Spoil his salvation for a fierce miscreed?

2. The day is gone

The day is gone, and all its sweets are gone! Sweet voice, sweet lips, soft hand, and softer breast,

Warm breath, light whisper, tender semitone, Bright eyes, accomplished shape, and lang'rous waist!

Faded the flower and all its budded charms, Faded the sight of beauty from my eyes, Faded the shape of beauty from my arms, Faded the voice, warmth, whiteness, paradise— Vanished unseasonably at shut of eve, When the dusk holiday—or holinight Of fragrant-curtained love begins to weave The woof of darkness thick, for hid delight; But, as I've read love's missal through today, He'll let me sleep, seeing I fast and pray.

3. Why did I laugh to-night?

Why did I laugh to-night? No voice will tell: No God, no Demon of severe response, Deigns to reply from Heaven or from Hell. Then to my human heart I turn at once. Heart! Thou and I are here, sad and alone; Say, wherefore did I laugh? O mortal pain! O Darkness! Darkness! ever must I moan, To question Heaven and Hell and Heart in vain. Why did I laugh? I know this Being's lease, My fancy to its utmost blisses spreads; Yet would I on this very midnight cease, And the world's gaudy ensigns see in shreds; Verse, Fame, and Beauty are intense indeed, But Death intenser—Death is Life's high meed.

4. Here lies one whose name was writ in water.

(Epitaph of John Keats)

5. This living hand

This living hand, now warm and capable Of earnest grasping, would, if it were cold And in the icy silence of the tomb, So haunt thy days and chill thy dreaming nights That thou wouldst wish thine own heart dry of blood So in my veins red life might stream again, And thou be conscience-calmed—see here it is— I hold it towards you.

6. Bright Star

Bright star, would I were steadfast as thou art— Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night And watching, with eternal lids apart, Like Nature's patient, sleepless Eremite, The moving waters at their priestlike task Of pure ablution round earth's human shores, Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask Of snow upon the mountains and the moors— No—yet still stedfast, still unchangeable, Pillow'd upon my fair love's ripening breast, To feel for ever its soft swell and fall, Awake for ever in a sweet unrest, Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath, And so live ever—or else swoon to death.

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Program Note

Composed in the summer and fall of 2007, The Keats Cycle represents an attempt to express the pure and introspective poetry of John Keats (1795-1821) through a musical discourse that would somehow be appropriate to both Keats’s 19th-century world and the composer’s 21st-century one.

The cycle unites five posthumous poems by Keats, as well as the poet’s epitaph, in an order that creates a sense of philosophical unity and direction. The dramatic-musical interpretation of the texts traces a conceptual line from youthful idealism, through to self-doubt, self-realization, death, and finally to apotheosis.

The fifth piece in the cycle, ‘This Living Hand’, was given its recital premiere by baritone Arri Simon and pianist Daniel Schlosberg in Paris on July 20, 2007.

The cycle was given its full premiere by Philippe Sly (bass-baritone) and Thomas Carr (piano) on February 10, 2010 at Vanier College, Montreal. The orchestral version was premiered by Philippe Sly with Michal Novotny conducting the Independent Orchestra at McGill in Montreal on March 20, 2010.

–HS

Performance Notes

Explanations for particular notational issues and performance indications are given as needed throughout the score. Ossia notes are provided as smaller noteheads within the regular vocal staff to accommodate Baritone and Bass-Baritone ranges. Besides that, the composer would like to make a few remarks to the performers:

1. All metronome marks are provided as a guide, not a rule; the relation of tempi to each other is more important than their metronomic accuracy.

2. All pedal indications for the piano are again given as a guide to understanding the composer’s intentions; the pianist is of course invited to pedal as they feel appropriate, given their interpretation of the character of each piece.

3. This cycle was composed as a complete set, with long-term harmonic and contrapuntal connections. The individual songs are meant to be performed in the given order and in the given 'key'. Transposition of any given song could only be acceptable if performed outside the context of the cycle.

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Instrumentation

Baritone or Bass Baritone

Piano

Duration: 19'

First printing, June 2024

Published by Just a Theory Press | www.justatheorypress.com

roseleavesherself - up-on thebriar, - For windstokissandgrateful - bees tofeed, Andthe Languid(

espress.

Why

thenshouldman, tea sing - theworld forgrace,

semprenonlegato f ritmico

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Fa p -dedtheﬂower - and all mp itsbudded - charms, Faded - thesightof beauty - from mf myeyes,

Faded - theshapeof beauty - frommyarms,

Fa-dedthe voice, warmth,

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But,

asI'veread love'smissal - throughtoday,mf He'll letme sleep,

He'll letme sleep...

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mf Andthe world's withasenseofdejection,turningtoﬁerceness gau-dy en-signssee in shreds; espress. pocorall. (ca.q=96)

Freely(ca.h=40)

inhopefullament,slowandstately

(longbreathsthroughout, whereindicated)

*Hairpinsbelowthestaﬀindicatethegradualopeningorclosingofavoweltowardthenextindicatedone.Emphasisshouldbeplacedon makingthetransitionsubtle,almostimperceptible,whilegraduallyshiftingthepredominantovertonecreatedbyeachvowel.

(P)Holddownpedalthroughout,allowingthesinger'svoicetopickoutharmonicsinthepiano.

slowlyopeningout...

moreintensely,ﬁercelyominous,butstillrestrained

withgrowingconﬁdence

rit.

openthesound,then... subduetheﬁerceness

achievecalmness,retracttheself

fadetosilenceafterpianohas begunthenextmovement n

(q=46)

This p living - hand, pp nowwarmand

ppsoovoce

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might stream again, - Andthou be con-science—

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Star, would Iwerestead fast- as thouart–

cresc.

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(allow the voice to be buried by growing piano sound)

*playallsemitoneswithinbracketbygraduallyﬂaeningout thehandasneeded;highestandlowestpitchesaregiven.

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Stafylakis: The Keats Cycle JAT-128-029-SP