Sonnet No. 19

Completion year

1997

Duration

5 min

Scored for

mixed choir

Other titles

Sonet št. 19

About

Sonnet No. 19 is a composition that, in a way, came into being on its own. The power of Shakespeare’s text and the excellence of Janez Menart’s translation called for a musical idea and shaped it from the very beginning. A contrast between insensitivity and love, between the relentless and the tender—two polar forces in our lives. When we cast off the shell of calculation and rationality, something simple and beautiful remains within each of us.

Premiere

22.5.1997 / Velika dvorana SF / 8. letni koncert MPZ Veter (um.vodja: Urša Lah)

Language

Slovenian

Lyrics by

William Shakespeare / transl. Janez Menart

Lyrics / Vocal text

Shakespeare: Sonet št. 19

Naj tvoji levji kremplji, čas, besne
in zemlji v žrelo mečejo stvari
izbij, če hočeš, tigrom vse zobe
in v lastni krvi feniksa sežgi-
menjavaj s soncem dež in z dežjem mraz
in sploh z vsem svetom, ki hiti v pogin,
počni kar češ, o hitronogi čas;
prepovedujem ti en sam zločin:
o! ljubemu nikoli lic ne rani,
ne riši vanje nitk s peresom let,
preskoči ga in mladega ohrani
kot vzor lepote za bodoči svet.
A tudi, ce zadaš mu smrtne rane-
v mojih pesmih vendar vedno mlad ostane.