Four Rilke songs

Song Cycle by Bradley A. Bombardier (1980 - 2019)

1. In this town the last house stands  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
In this town the last house stands
as lonely as if it were the last house in the world.

The highway, which the tiny town is not able to stop,
slowly goes deeper out into the night.

The tiny town is only a passing-over place,
worried and afraid, between two huge spaces --
a path running past houses instead of a bridge.

And those who leave the town wander a long way off
and many perhaps die on the road.

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2. Autumn  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
The leaves are falling, falling as if from far up
 [ ... ]

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3. And where is he, the clear one  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
And where he is, the clear one, whose tone rings to us?
 [ ... ]

Text Authorship:

  • by Robert Bly (b. 1926), copyright © [an adaptation]

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4. I live my life  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
I live my life in growing orbits,
which move out over the things of the world.
Perhaps I can never achieve the last,
but that will be my attempt. 

I am circling around God, around the ancient tower,
and I have been circling for a thousand years.
And I still don't know if I am a falcon,
Or a storm, or a great song.

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Permission granted for use by the Lied, Art Song, and Choral Texts Archive stemming from agreement on recording between Mark Abel and Harper and Row.

Researcher for this page: Michael Alec Rose Rose

IMPORTANT NOTE: The material directly above is protected by copyright and appears here by special permission. If you wish to copy it and distribute it, you must obtain permission or you will be breaking the law. Once you have permission, you must give credit to the author and display the copyright symbol ©. Copyright infringement is a criminal offense under international law.

Total word count: 256