We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Helen Feng: Soaring to the Past - Jin Se

from Young Musicians Program (YMP) 2019 - Composers Forum I by The Walden School

/

about

Helen Feng, soprano & piano

lyrics

锦瑟 Jin Se (The Zither)

【唐】李商隐
锦瑟无端五十弦，一弦一柱思华年。
庄生晓梦迷蝴蝶，望帝春心托杜鹃。
沧海月明珠有泪，蓝田日暖玉生烟。
此情可待成追忆，只是当时已惘然。

How sorrowful, alas, are the fifty strings of the zither,
Each reminding me of the years that have gone by!

Like the Taoist Zhuangzi, I have come to confuse my
identity with the butterflies I so frequently dream of,
having surrendered to stupor –– gravity inverting,
illusions
and realities commingling. Like Emperor Wang Di,
I entrust to the cuckoos my deepest melancholies.

Now, a beam of moonlight ascends from the weathered
sea
whose ebbs and flows send crystallized teardrops ashore.
Still blue is the celestial canvas, when the Sun, descending
further yet, melts into a jumble of heat and smolder.

If only I could comprehend the depths of life much
earlier,
but it was too profound for my youthful imagination.

–Li Shang Yin
Translated by Helen Feng

credits

from Young Musicians Program (YMP) 2019 - Composers Forum I, released October 8, 2019

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

The Walden School image

The Walden School Dublin, New Hampshire

Founded in 1972, the Walden School is an acclaimed summer music school and festival, offering programs that emphasize creativity through musicianship, improvisation, and composition. Our programs include the Young Musicians Program (9-18) and the Creative Musicians Retreat (18+). Set in beautiful New Hampshire, Walden provides an inspiring retreat-like environment ideal for creative music making. ... more

contact / help

Contact The Walden School

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this track or account

If you like The Walden School, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Saxophonist Isaiah Collier chats about his new LP and the influence of Pharoah Sanders.
listen now