Tutto è sciolto
COMPOSER'S NOTE
Tutto è sciolto is part of a cycle of ten art songs on poems by James Joyce that I wrote during the winter and spring of 2019.
Joyce was a big fan of opera and, by all accounts, possessed an impressive tenor voice. Tutto è sciolto, translated as "all is lost now," is an aria from Vincenzo Bellini's La Sonnambula ("The Sleepwalker").
The musical reference also appears in the "Sirens" episode of Joyce's novel, Ulysses. The aria reminds the protagonist, Leopold Bloom, of his wife's unfaithfulness, just like Elvino in Bellini's opera feels deceived by his future wife. In my setting, I endeavored to instill an air of Celtic melancholy reflective of the emotions Leopold experiences in that episode.
Tutto è sciolto is also available as part of a compilation:
Ten Poems of James Joyce (High Voice and Piano)
Ten Poems of James Joyce (Medium Voice and Piano)
THE TEXT
A birdless heaven, sea-dusk and a star
Sad in the west;
And thou, poor heart, love’s image, fond and far,
Rememberest:
Her silent eyes and her soft foam-white brow
And fragrant hair,
Falling as in the silence falleth now
Dusk from the air.
Ah, why wilt thou remember these, or why,
Poor heart, repine,
If the sweet love she yielded with a sigh
Was never thine?
James Joyce, 1882 - 1941
James Joyce by Jacques-Emile Blanche
DURATION
2¼ minutes
YEAR OF COMPOSITION
2019
CATEGORIES
Solo Voice
VERSIONS
High Voice Solo and Piano
Medium Voice Solo and Piano
PERFORMING RIGHTS
American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP)
PURCHASE SHEET MUSIC
US: TBA
World: TBA
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