ERIC HESSEL

"   ever ringing nowhere   " (2015)

Mezzo-soprano, flute, clarinet, horn, cello, and piano. 9'.

Text by the composer:​

I speak the softest words of passion,

For the silence has called my name.

Entangled in branches,

My words ebb and flutter like a silken veil

That denies the promised Spring.

But also speaks the wind.

It nudges auburn leaves

And pulls the sky downward

Onto wetted ground,

Where it mists and turns and sleeps.

And somewhere amid the churning landscape,

My passions snag the passing wind.

Waking, rising, forming,

Sweeping, climbing, grasping,

Ever ringing nowhere.

          Ever ringing

                    nowhere.

Until I see that the silence

Has no voice but mine.
​

Performance History:

• ​currently unperformed.