NOTE
This composition was commissioned conjointly by Die Basler Madrigalisten, contrapunkt chor and Trio Klick, as part of the Chortrommel show. The Fugitive From Heaven involves a professional 12 voices choir, an amateur grand choir and three percussions.
In 2000, Palestinian writer Mahmoud Darwish (1941-2008) releases a long poetry, translated in English by John Berger and Rema Hammami, under the name Mural. In this prose, the poet addresses many topics: life & death, old age, homeland, exile and dispossession. The gracefulness, deepness and strength of every single word presided over the composition Fugitive From Heaven. I wanted to make truly comprehensible sentences and opted for a vertical writing along with simple chords. “One day I’ll become a bird that plucks my being from nothingness”: the words emerge from silence. At the same time, three percussionists are rolling on cymbals and snares while a breath emerges through the Grand Choir.
One day I’ll become what I want
One day I’ll become a bird
that plucks my being from nothingness.
As my wings burn I approach the truth
and rise from the ashes
I am the dialogue of dreamers
I shunned body and self to complete the first journey
towards meaning
but it consumed me then vanished
I am that absence
The fugitive from heaven
Excerpt from Mural, Mahmoud Darwish, Verso Books, 2009 for the English version
Translated by John Berger and Rema Hammami
COMMISSION
Die Basler Magrigalisten
Dir. Raphael Immoos
contrapunkt chor
Dir. Abélia Nordmann
Trio Klick
PREMIERE
August 18, 2018
Chortrommel
Lucerne Festival, KKL, Lucerne, Switzerland
Artistic direction: Fritz Hauser
FURTHER PERFORMANCES
Chortrommel
February 22, 23, 24, 2019
Kaserne, Basel, Switzerland