Silentium Amoris, opus 13 (2007-08, rev. 2011)
INSTRUMENTATION: clarinet in B-flat, piano, and high voice
TEXT: Silentium Amoris by Oscar Wilde (public domain).
Seduction
Infatuation
Silentium Amoris
Silentium Amoris is a three-movement setting and interpretation of the Oscar Wilde poem of the same name. Scored for piano, clarinet, and soprano, the piece is a rhapsodic portrayal of various stages associated with unrequited love. Each instrument represents a different aspect of the human condition: the brilliant clarinet being thought, the ever-present piano being time, and the soprano – the only instrument capable of rendering the actual text – being emotion, itself.
In this piece, I sought to capture some of the various emotions and thoughts associated with unrequited love: the brilliant, licentious musings of "seduction” in the first movement; torturous obsession and unending “infatuation” in the second; and the pain of love left unfulfilled in a sorrowful, lamenting broken heart in the final movement, “Silentium Amoris” – the silence of love.
Bridget Moriarty, soprano; Bryan Goddard, clarinet; Carlos M Fuentes, piano