Upon commissioning this piece, the Vancouver Cantata Singers requested that some type of reference to J.S. Bach be made, the composer who, in many ways, was the heart and soul of this choir, their conductor, and their 1998 tour to Germany. It was not difficult to choose the poignant chorus “Ruht wohl ihr heiligen Gebeine” from Bach’s St. John Passion as a source of musical inspiration and material. As a chorister, this has always been a favourite of mine.
My composition begins with the six opening measures of this chorus in the original form. The recognizable descending gesture (set to the words “ruht wohl”) becomes a significant melodic and harmonic feature developed throughout the work. The text by the German poet Gertrud von Le Fort (1875-1971), with its exquisite depiction of nature, draws a moving parallel, reinterpreting in elegant, contemporary language the immortality of the soul.
Gertrud von Le Fort came from a Protestant background but converted to Catholicism. Her best known work, Die Letzte am Schafott (The Last on the Scaffold), was the original basis for Poulenc’s opera Dialogue of the Carmelites. Her poems, often heartbreaking depictions of war-torn Europe, display great depth, spirituality and refinement. Gertrud von Le Fort was nominated by Hermann Hesse for the Nobel Prize in Literature.
