Chamber Intimacy.

Abstract

Anna Akhmatova's early poetry was immediately hailed in Russia for its 'chamber intimacy': an uncompromisingly personal tone whose directness of utterance is complemented by an unprecedentedly rich handling of the Russian language. In my settings the poetry is foregrounded. The piano shadows the vocal line so closely that at times it should appear, paradoxically, as if the vocal line is emerging from the piano. I have also attempted to reflect the extraordinary vocal range of Akhmatova's recordings of her own poetry with a tessitura that spans three octaves. I would like to thank Dicky Sokolov for her very precise, very insightful translations and for her unfailing, tireless help when I was floundering in my transliterations of the Russian! And above all I'd like to thank Loré Lixenberg whose exceptional voice inspired this piece.