on the subject of loneliness
Instrumentation: Soprano + 15 Instruments
Duration: 25'
Text (after redactions):
Movement 1
From the close-shut windows gleams no spark,
the night is dark,
the pine-trees moan,
The windows shake,
darkness is pressing coldly around,
(Like shadows…)
the stars are hid,
The silence throbs,
(Into the nothingness of scorn and noise)
darkness is pressing coldly around,
(Darkness is my closest friend…
the nothingness of scorn and noise)
Under thy window… the night is dark,
The pine-trees moan,
The windows shake,
(like vapours tossed into… nothingness)
In thy chamber… the silence throbs
(the nothingness of scorn…)
From the close-shut windows gleams no spark,
the night is dark,
the pine-trees moan,
darkness is pressing coldly around,
(what I am none cares or knows)
the stars are hid,
The silence throbs,
(Like shadows in love’s frenzied stifled throes,)
Under thy window I sing alone,
(Darkness is my closest friend.)
In thy chamber thou sittest alone.
why should we lie Alone in the shell of this great world?
Why stand we ever coldly apart?
(I live like vapours tossed… Into the nothingness of scorn and noise.)
Why should we be alone?
Must we forever be alone?
----
Movement 2
Social isolation (what I am none cares or knows) and loneliness (You have taken from me my closest friends) have synergistic effects: (loneliness… social isolation… mortality) The higher the social isolation (what I am none cares or knows), the larger is the effect (social isolation… loneliness… mortality;) of loneliness (You have taken from me my closest friends) on mortality; (they rise and vanish in oblivious host) And the higher the loneliness, (You have taken from me my closest friends) the larger is the effect (social isolation… loneliness… mortality;) of social isolation (what I am none cares or knows) on mortality (they rise and vanish in oblivious host) (Beller & Wagner, 2018b). Thus, the adverse effects (loneliness… social isolation… mortality) of Loneliness (You have taken from me my closest friends) and Social Isolation (what I am none cares or knows) appear to be strongest in those that are lonely and socially isolated at the same time.
(You have taken from me my closest friends)
(My friends forsake me like a memory lost;)
(Under thy window I sing alone)
(social isolation… loneliness… mortality;)
(Must we forever be alone?)
A potential explanation for these synergistic effects (loneliness… social isolation… mortality) on mortality (they rise and vanish in oblivious host) may be the differential effects (loneliness… social isolation… mortality) of loneliness (You have taken from me my closest friends) and social isolation (what I am none cares or knows) on physical (Must we forever be alone?) and mental health (My friends forsake me like a memory lost;). While loneliness (You have taken from me my closest friends) predicts mental health (My friends forsake me like a memory lost;) outcomes (Under thy window I sing alone) such as depression (Darkness is my closest friend.) best, physical health (Must we forever be alone?) is best predicted by social isolation (what I am none cares or knows) (Beller & Wagner, 2018b). And while its effect (social isolation… loneliness… mortality;) on depression (Darkness is my closest friend.) largely explains the association between loneliness (You have taken from me friend and neighbor--) and mortality (they rise and vanish in oblivious host) (E’en the dearest—that I loved the best--), the mechanisms with which social isolation contributes to mortality are more complex and intertwined (Elovainio et al., 2017).
(loneliness… social isolation… mortality)
(Why, Lord, do you reject me and hide your face from me?)
----
Movement 3
Lord, you are the God who saves me;
(What I am none cares or knows,)
(I am the self-consumer of my woes,)
day and night I cry out to you.
I am overwhelmed with troubles
(You have taken from me my closest friends)
and my life draws near to death.
(Under thy window I sing alone)
(In thy chamber thou sittest alone.)
I am counted among those who go down to the pit;
(My friends forsake me like a memory lost;)
(Into the nothingness of scorn and noise,)
I am like one without strength.
(Where there is neither sense of life nor joys,)
(But the vast shipwreck of my life’s esteems;)
I am set apart (social isolation…) with the dead, (loneliness…)
like the slain (mortality;) who lie in the grave,
(I am overwhelmed with troubles)
whom you remember no more,
(Why, Lord, do you reject me and hide your face from me?)
who are cut off from your care.
(Must we forever be alone?)
(Loneliness… social isolation… mortality)
You have put me in the lowest pit,
(You have overwhelmed me with all your waves)
in the darkest depths.
Your wrath lies heavily on me;
(Like shadows in love’s frenzied stifled throes)
you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.
You have taken from me my closest friends
(Into the living sea of waking dreams,)
and have made me repulsive to them.
(They rise and vanish in oblivious host,)
I am confined and cannot escape;
(E'en the dearest—that I loved the best—)
(Are strange—nay, rather stranger than the rest.)
(And yet I am, and live—like vapours tossed.)
Why, Lord, do you reject me
and hide your face from me?
You have taken from me friend and neighbor—
darkness is my closest friend.
Program Notes:
In searching for a theme around which to base my thesis texts, I wanted a topic which related to society’s experience living through the COVID-19 pandemic, but also one which would speak to future generations not become immediately dated after COVID’s pandemic phase. Loneliness has been experienced since ancient times, but all were made acutely aware of the need for social interaction during the long periods of lockdown during 2020 and 2021. on the subject of loneliness draws inspiration from a variety of texts which examine the complex effects of loneliness from emotional, scientific, and spiritual viewpoints. Redactions and rearrangements of these texts form a new narrative which does not always follow a linear form or work toward a clear goal. The speaker’s internal dialogue formed from the disparate texts reflects the impact of loneliness on the music itself; only in retrospect do these jumbled thoughts come together.
on the subject of loneliness was written in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Music degree from the University of Louisville.
Completed: May 2022