From the recording I. Imaginärer Lebenslauf
Copyright 2017 Ross Crean/Knight & Thorne Music/ASCAP
Composed by Ross Crean. Text by Rainer Maria Rilke.
Performed by:Maayan Voss de Bettancourt, Mezzo SopranoShawn Chang, Piano
World Premiere at Opera America for the OperaRox Productions' New Works Concert as a part of the 2017 New York Opera Fest.
Lyrics
Translation:I. Imaginary Biography
First a childhood, limitless and without renunciation or goals. O unselfconscious joy. Then suddenly terror, barriers, schools, drudgery, and collapse into temptation and loss.Defiance. The one bent becomes the bender, and thrusts upon others that which it suffered. Loved, feared, rescuer, fighter, winnerand conqueror, blow by blow.And then alone in cold, light, open space,yet still deep within the mature erected form,a gasping for the clear air of the first one, the old one . . .Then God leaps out from behind his hiding place.