Elucidation Förklaring

Immersed in your beauty I see my life explained; From the riddle of darkness An answer is revealed.

Immersed in your beauty I am inspired to pray; For the world is now blessed Because you are near.

Your clarity is endless And drenched in light; I could die in your presence Immersed in your beauty.

Setting the poem of the same title by Karin Boye, in Swedish and English, translated by the composer, for eight-part mixed chorus (SSAATTBB) a cappella Eric Banks

Commissioned by Roger Jordan, and premiered by The Esoterics in the concert VIVIDA, October 2010.

Karin Boye (1900-1941) was born in Göteborg (Gothenberg), Sweden, and moved to Stockholm in 1909. She studied at Uppsala University from 1921 to 1926, and debuted in 1922 with a collection of poems entitled Moln (Clouds), from which this poem, Förklaring, is taken. With two of her colleagues, Boye founded the poetry magazine Spektrum, which introduced the work of Surrealists and TS Eliot to Swedish readers. She was largely responsible for translating Eliot’s work into Swedish. Throughout her work, Boye explores her own personal turmoil with lesbianism, socialism, and her religious upbringing. Boye died in an apparent suicide after swallowing several sleeping pills, and her body was found on a boulder on a farm outside of Gothenberg. This boulder has become a memorial to Boye. Karin’s “wife,” Margot Hanel, committed SAMPLEsuicide shortly Boye’s death. In 2004, the Uppsala University Library named a branch in Boye’s honor. In her poetry, Boye is brutally honest and surprisingly simple. For me, her work is about the desire for perfection, the pain of imperfection, and the ever-growing rift between the beauty of aspiration and bitterness of reality.

As a Buddhist, Boye’s verses that struggle with expectation and suffering resonate very deeply within me. When I became friends with Roger Jordan, a fellow Buddhist and photographer, and saw some of his work that captures the fleeting beauty of clouds here in the Puget Sound region, we decided to collaborate on a piece in which my choral music would accompany a slideshow of his photographs. In Jordan’s photos, the Sound and the sky are captured from the same vantage point, several times over the course of a single day. Since theDO water and the clouds feature NOT so prominently and speak so compellingly PRINT in this piece, I wanted to set a text from Boye’s Clouds that is “immersed” in such beauty – hence my choice of Förklaring. I have attempted to compose a piece that is seamless and continuous, but not overly dramatic, so as to not detract from the photographs that it is meant to accompany. Below, you will find the twelve lines of Elucidation: in Swedish and IPA (the International Phonetic Alphabet), which explains how the Swedish is to be pronounced in the score.

I din skönhet sänkt Here are the glyphs for Swedish !hchm¶1mgdsrDMjs   in the International Phonetic Alphabet: Immersed in your beauty Ser jag livet förklarat Vowels: as in hot rdq&NkhuDse1qjkNq`s `  I see my life explained; z as in hat Och den mörka gåtans svar d as in hate !njcDml1qj`fns`mrruNq D as in hen From the riddle of darkness h as in heat Uppenbarat. H as in hit !TooDmaNq`s    n as in home  An answer is revealed. N as in haw I din skönhet sänkt t as in hoot !hchm¶1mgdsrDMjs   T as in hook Immersed in your beauty 1 as in the German word Höhe (D through n) Bedja jag vill. x as in the German word Hüte (h through t) adc&`&NuHkk    X as in the German word Günter (H through t) I am inspired to pray; Consonants: Världen är helig, acefgjklmorsuas in English uzqkcDm!zqgdkhf   ! a glottal stop, as in !as or !in (and !or)  For the world is now blessed & a consonantal y, as in you Ty du är till. q flipped, as in the Italian ragazzi sxcX!zqsHkk    M a diagraph, as in English sing Because you are near. ¶ as in fish or the German ich-laut, Ändlös av klarhet, but with closed lips and open teeth !Dmck1r!NujkNqgds    Your clarity is endless Performers’ notes: Ljusfördränkt, The consonantal releases of each Swedish syllable &Xre1qcqDMjs should happen on the rest that follows each pitch. And drenched in light; The Swedish text (the ongoing chain of suspensions Ville jag dö hos dig, should always be kept softer than the English counterpoint. uHkkD&Nc1gnrcD&  English diction may be sacrificed for an overall sense of calm.

I could die in your presence I din skönhet sänkt. !hchm¶1mgdsrDMjs Immersed in your beauty. Eric Banks ©2015 Eric Banks Elucidation Billowingly 81 Eric Banks 1 h 8 » ˙ w œ S1 b b 4 ˙ w œ ˙ & b b bbb ∑ Ó ˙ w œ Œ Œ Œ p gds gds gds kh 8 S2 b b b 4 w ˙. w ˙. w & b b b b ∑ w ˙. Œ Œ Œ p SAMPLE¶1m ¶1m ¶1m &N 8 A1 bb b b 4 Ó Œ w. œ Œ w. œ Œ w. & b b b w. œ p chm chm chm rdq

b 8 A2 b bb b 4 Œ w ˙Œ. w ˙. Œ . Œ & b b w ˙. w ˙ DOp !h NOT!h !h PRINTrDMjs 8 ˙ w œ T1 b b 4 V b b bbb ∑ Ó ˙ w œ Œ ŒÓ ∑ p gds gds 8 T2 b b b 4 w ˙. œ V b b b b ∑ w ˙. Œ Œ∑ ∑ Ó Œ p ¶1m ¶1m F Im - 8 w. œ B1 ? 4 bbbb b Ó w. œ Œ Œ∑ Ó ∑ b b p chm chm

8 w ˙. œ œ B2 ? b b b 4 w ˙ Œ Œ ∑ Ó Œ œ ˙œ b b b b . p!h !h F Im - mersed in your

5 S1 b b w œ ˙ b b w œ & b b bbb Œ nb b bb Œ ˙ w œ Œ ˙ q`s j` !To

b b S2 & b bbbb ˙. Œw b bbbb ˙Œ. w ˙. Œ w b jkN n l1q ruNq

A1 b b b b b b & b b b b œŒw. nb b b œ Œ w. œ Œ wN e1q cDm s`mr.

A2 b b b Œ b b b Œ Œ & b b b b w ˙. nb b b w ˙. uDs !nj fnw ˙.

œ ˙ ˙ T1 b b b b b b œ œ œ ˙N V b b b b ∑ Ó Œ œ nb b b ˙œ Ó Œ œ F Im - - - mersed inyourbeau-----ty, Im - œ ˙ ˙ T2 b b œ œ œ b b ˙ œ œ œN ˙ V b b bb ˙œ b b bb Ó Œ œ ˙œœ b mersed inyourbeau------n ty, Im - mersed in your beau - - -

œ œ œ œ ˙ ˙ ˙ B1 ? b b Ó Œ œ ˙œ b b Ó Œ œ ˙œœN œ b b bbb nb b bb F Im - mersed in your beau-----ty, Im - mersed in your œ œ ˙ ˙ ˙ œ ˙ ˙ B2 ? œ œ œ ˙ bb b b bb b b Ó Œ œ ˙œ b b b beau-----ty, n b b Im - mersed in your beau-----ty, ©2015Copyright 2010. All rights reservedEric by the composer. Banks 2

8 S1 b b b b & b b bb w œŒ˙ nb b b w œ Œ ˙ w œ Œ ˙ !h rDMjs uHkk

S2 bbbb b Œ nbbbb Œ Œ & b ˙. w b ˙. w ˙. w SAMPLEq`s gds &N A1 b b b Œ nbb b Œ Œ & b b b œ w. b b œ aN ¶1mw. œ &`wN .

A2 b b b b & b b bb Œ nb b b Œ Œ w ˙. w ˙. w ˙. DOoDm NOTchm PRINTadc ˙ T1 bb b b œ œ œ œ ˙ nbb b ˙ ˙ Œ œ ˙N Ó V b b ˙œ b b œ œ œ œ mersed in your beau ------ty, I see my life ex - plained; p uHkk

T2 b b b ˙ ˙ n b b œ ˙ w V b b b Œ œ œ œ b b b œ ∑ ∑ ty, I see my life ex - plained; p &N œ ˙ ˙ wN . B1 ? b b œ ˙ b b Œ œ œ œ ˙ Ó b b bb nb b b œ œ beau------ty, I see my life ex - plained; p &` œ . B2 ? b b Œ œ œ ˙ b b ∑ w ˙ Œ b b bb œ œ nb b b I see my life ex - plained; p adc

11 S1 bb b ŒÓ bb b ∑ Ó Œ œ œ ˙. & b b w œ n b œ œ œ œN œ F From the rid - dle of dark - - - ness, ˙. S2 bbbb ŒÓ Œ bbbb œ œ œ œ ˙ Ó Ó Œ & b ˙. œ n œ œ F From therid-dleofdark---ness, Fromœ

b b A1 & b bbb Œ∑. nb bb Ó Œ œ ˙. Ó œ œ œ œ ˙ F Fromœ œ theœ rid - dle of dark - - - ness,

A2 b b b b & b b b Ó Œ œ œ nb b ˙. Ó Ó Œ œN œ œ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ FFrom the rid - dle of dark - - - ness, FromœN œ theœ rid - dle of

T1 b b w œ ˙ b b w œ ˙ w œ V b b b Œ nb b Œ Œ ˙ gd !zq !Nu

b b T2 b bb ˙. Œ w b bb ˙. Œw ˙Œ. w V b !zq n cX k1r

œ w. œ w. œ B1 ? b b Œ b b Œ Œ wN . b b b cDm nb b sx !Dmc

14 S1 bbbb Ó Ó Œ nbbb œ ˙. Œ œN . œ & ˙ œ œ œ ˙ œN J œ œ Fromœ œ theœ rid - dle of dark - - - ness, An an - swer is re -

S2 bb b œ ˙. nbb Œ œ. œ ∑ Ó & b œ œ œ b ˙ œ J œ œ ˙ œ therid-dleofdark---ness,œ SAMPLEAn an - swer is re - vealed. A1 b b n b j & b b Ó Œ b b ˙. Ó Œ œ. œ œ œ œ ˙ œ œN ˙ Fromœ œ theœ rid - dle of dark - - - ness, Anœ an - swer is reœ - vealed. b b j A2 b bb ˙. Ó nb b Œ œ. ∑ & œ ˙ œ œ ˙ DOdark - - - ness, NOTAnœ anPRINT - swer is reœ - vealed. T1 b b n b V b b w œ Œ ˙ b b w œŒ ˙ w œ Œ ˙ e1q &N !h

T2 b b n b V b b ˙. Œ w b b ˙. Œ w ˙. Œ w &Xr kD cD&

B1 œ . ? bb b Œ w nbb œ Œ w. œ Œ wN . b gds b uHk gnr

B2 ? b b b bb w ˙Œ. nb b w ˙. Œ w ˙. Œ jkNq cqDMjs c1

17 S1 b b ˙ w œ ˙ & b b ˙ Ó Ó ˙ nb w œ Œ Œ vealed. p rDMjs gds kh

b b S2 & b b ∑ nb Œ w ˙. Œw p gdsw ˙. ¶1m &N

b b A1 b b Ó nb Œ w. œŒwN . & . p ¶1mw œ chm rdq

A2 b b & b b Œ nb w ˙. Œ w ˙ Œ . . p chmw ˙ !h rDMjs

T1 b b ˙ w œ V b b w œ Œ ˙ nb w œ Œ ŒÓ rDMjs gds

b b T2 b b Œ nb Œ w ˙. ŒÓ Œ œ V ˙. w ˙. gds ¶1m F Im -

B1 ? w. œ bb œŒw. bb œ Œ ŒÓ ∑ b ¶1m n chm

20 b n S1 & b w œ Œ ˙ b w œ Œ ˙ w œŒ˙ q`s j` !To

S2 b n & b ˙Œ. w b ˙. Œ w ˙. Œ w SAMPLEjkN l1q ruNq A1 bb Œ nb Œ Œ & œ w. œ w. œ wN . e1q cDm s`mr

A2 bb Œ nb Œ Œ & w ˙. w ˙. w ˙. DOuDs NOT!nj PRINTfn T1 b n œ œ œ ˙ ˙ ˙N V b ∑ Ó Œ œ b ˙œœ Ó Œ œ F Im - mersed in your beau ------ty, Im -

b œ œ œ ˙ n ˙ ˙ œN ˙ T2 V b ˙œœ b Ó Œ œ ˙œœ œ œ mersed in your beau ------ty, Im - mersed inyour beau----

œ œ œ œ ˙ ˙ ˙ B1 ? bb Ó Œ œ ˙œ nb Ó Œ œ ˙œœN œ F Im - mersed in your beau-----ty, Im - mersed in your œ ˙ ˙ œ ˙ œ œ œ ˙ ˙ ˙ B2 ? bb nb Ó Œ œ ˙œœ beau-----ty, Im - mersed in your beau------ty,

23 S1 & b w œ Œ ˙ n w œ Œ ˙ w œ Œ ˙ !h rDMjs uHkk

S2 b Œ n Œ Œ & ˙. w ˙. q`s gdsw ˙. &Nw

A1 b Œ n Œ Œ & œ w. œ . aN ¶1mw œ &`wN .

A2 & b Œ n Œ Œ w ˙. . oDm chmw ˙ adcw ˙.

T1 b œ œ œ ˙ n ˙ ˙ Œ œ NÓ˙ ˙ V ˙œœ œ œ œ mersed inyourbeau------ty, œI am in - spired to pray; p uHkk

T2 b ˙ ˙ Œ n œ ˙ ∑ ∑ w V œ œ œ œ ty, I am in - spired to pray; p &N

B1 ? œ œ ˙ ˙ ˙ œ ˙ wN . b n Œ œ œ œ œ Ó beau------ty, Iamin-spiredtopray; p &`

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