• Duration: 40'
• Instrumentation: S(Ms) solo-vc solo-coro misto-3030-4200-batt (2esec) cel-archi (6.6.6.6.2)
• Year: 2007
• Language of edition: eng, pol
• Order: Utwór napisany na zamówienie Miasta Wrocławia z przeznaczeniem do wykonania na festiwalu Wratislavia Cantans
• Type: parts, score

A texture of dialogue is natural here as The Song of the Songs is after all the dialogue of a man with a woman. As such, even the division of the choir into male and female fits. Beyond this, the soprano part recalls a woman, therefore its dialogue with the cello a deep-voiced instrument may also be treated as male-female. In turn, the contrast between the soprano solo and the choir part is here a kind of commentary on the sopranos song. This commentary is rather teasing in relation to the character of the soprano solo. It may be understood that the affiliation to the text of Song of the Songs to the Bible makes it a thing hallowed, a text divinely inspired, the apotheosis of love ideal, unearthly. I wished therefore to introduce here a kind of juxtaposition of heaven and earth and as such gave the choir the role of a collective vox populi reacting to this idealised love in a way mundane, prosaic, even mocking.

Agata Zubel