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И скучно и грустно
Washed out and depressed

Рассказ о жизни
A story about life

— On a poem by Mikhail Lermontov —


Voorblad I skoetsjnə i groestnə
Ensemble: Solo Soprano + SATB choir + English Horn + Violoncello
Publication date: 13th of February 2020
Text: Mikhail Lermontov
Duration: approximately 10:40 min.

ISBN: 9789461331304
ISMN: 9790803557092

Lyrics: Russian
Included in the score: Transliteration of the Russian lyrics for English-speaking singers, the transcription for proper pronunciation (in the score), and of course the translation (see below) for a complete understanding of the text.


"... by closing your eyes you experience a mixture of nostalgia and serenity which walks us through the great expanses - the steppes - of a snow-covered Russia ... "
Christian Pouchard on this music



The poem "I skutsjno i grustno" has fascinated me since my student days. During my secondary study of Russian language and literature, in which I became acquainted with the poem for the first time, I still know how our conversation teacher, a former ballerina from the Bolshoi company but living in the Netherlands, obliged us to learn the poem by heart and to recite it correctly. I am still grateful to her for that.

Mikhail Lermontov was a romantic poet who lived in the the beginning of the nineteenth century and who only turned 26 years old. He died in a duel in 1841.
This is probably one of his most famous poems - he wrote it in the year before his death. The subject is (of course) love: passionate, moving, full of pathos, yearning. In short: life itself.
The subtitle A story about life I added myself.

This lied is intended to be sung in Russian. The score contains a meticulous transliteration as well as a pronunciation guide for English singers who do not speak Russian. For a good understanding of the text, a translation has been added in the score (see also below).

Aristos

The poem

И скучно и грустно, и некому руку подать
В минуту душевной невзгоды...
Желанья!... что пользы напрасно и вечно желать?
А годы проходят - все лучшие годы!

Любить... но кого же?.. на время - не стоит труда,
А вечно любить невозможно.
В себя ли заглянешь? там прошлого нет и следа:
И радость, и муки, и всё там ничтожно...

Что страсти? - ведь рано иль поздно их сладкий недуг
исчезнет при слове рассудка;
И жизнь, как посмотришь с холодным вниманием вокруг -
Такая пустая и глупая шутка…


The translation

Washed out and depressed and no one to reach out to
in these times of heartache.
Desire! After all, what does vain and eternal desire bring?
While the years pass - the best years!

To love ... but whom? For a moment it's not worth the effort
and indeed, eternal love is impossible.
Looking at myself? There is no trace of the past:
joy and sorrow are now trivial.

Passion? Sooner or later it will be sweet suffering,
chased away by words of common sense.
Life, if you gaze at it with an uninvolved look,
is an empty and foolish farce.
(© Translation: Aristos)

Below you can get an impression of the music.

I advise you not to listen to the music via a mobile phone, tablet or laptop. That could turn out to be a disappointment, unless you use very good headphones. For a reasonably acceptable experience, a computer with a good sound system is required!

Please note:
This music is an electronic representation and is therefore not comparable to a human version! For example, one does not hear the words of the sung text by the choir, but only "aah" and "ooh". The instruments, on the other hand, are quite realistic thanks to the latest electronics.
It remains, however, that the whole of the interpretation of the conductors/musicians is missing and therefore may sound somewhat sterile.
Flash
© The complete copyright of the music (also this electronic version) has been deposited. This means that you can only listen but not use it nor partially, nor completely for your own purposes. Let alone that you use it for your own performances or productions.
For citation rights please contact the publisher and/or the Buma/Stemra organization in the Netherlands.

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