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From Behind the Caravan: Songs of Hâfez

Forces: SA soloists, SSAA chorus, vielle (or viola), Persian handdrums, and optional Oud

Text: Khwajeh Shams al-Din Muhammad Hâfez-e Shirazi (ca. 1320-1390)

Duration: 13 min. (5 movements)

Premiere: March 2007, The Rose Ensemble, "Candlelight Concerts: Mystics, Prophets, Sages & Seers" (Duluth, Minneapolis, and St. Paul, Minnesota)

Commissioned: ...for The Rose Ensemble by Jim Payne, in memory of David Madson (1963-1997)

Published by: Self-published, AB-049-00

See the score: PREVIEW THE SCORE (pdf)

Order now: Online Order Form

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LISTEN:

The Rose Ensemble; Jordan Sramek, artistic director (live premiere recording)

From Behind the Caravan: Songs of Hâfez (2007) I. we have come II. suffer no grief III. closer to the fire IV. boatpeople V. we have come (reprise)

mp3, 2:45, 2.5 MB mp3, 4:19, 4 MB mp3, 1:22, 1.3 MB mp3, 3:45, 3.5 MB mp3, 2:05, 2 MB

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PROGRAM NOTE:

Johann Wolfgang Goethe once wrote, "Only with you, Hafez, do I wish to compete, for the older you get the younger you become. . . And religion is no obstacle, for if the word 'Islam' means to submit to God, we all live and die in Islam."

Khwajeh Shams al-Din Muhammad Hâfez-e Shirazi (ca. 1320-1390) was born in Shiraz, Persia (Iran). He wrote nearly 400 lyric poems, called ghazals, and is the undisputed master of that particular poetic form. His writing is mystical and based on Sufism, a tradition of Islam that is associated both with the Sunni and Shi'a denominations, as well as other currents of Islam.

I was drawn to these four ghazals particularly because of the elegant way they depict longing… longing for Truth, longing for Reason, longing for Kindness, Love, and - always - longing for the Beloved. Also, as I was reading, I found that many of Hâfez's poems seem to have in common beautiful metaphors of transience… like fire, breath, and breeze.

I was fascinated to learn that the symbols of fire and breath are connected. In the first (and fifth) text, Hâfez addresses himself, asking himself to throw off his "kherqe" (his woolen shawl), which is a symbol of outward piety, and to show his true faith by breathing out his despair with the sigh "Ah!" It is said that the "Ah!" is a sign of sincerity, and can burn a hypocrite with the genuine fire of the soul.

Because Persian is somewhat of a tonal language, I have set the text carefully, to remain true to the pitches of the language, and to Hâfez's intent. The music, however, is entirely my own, and not at all authentically Persian. It is my interpretation of an assortment of influences, which include my recent study of Persian speech, scales and modes, listening to live Turkish music by the local ensemble Voices of Sepharad, and probably, I'm sure, it comes also from somewhere as far back in my memory as when I was four years old and danced - joyfully and tirelessly - with my Greek relatives in Athens.

"From Behind the Caravan: Songs of Hâfez" is dedicated, with great admiration, to The Rose Ensemble.

- Abbie Betinis, 2007

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TRANSLATIONS:

I. we have come

We, to this door, not seeking pride or glory... we have come.
For shelter from ill-fortune, here... we have come.

Traveling along love's journey, from the borders of nothingness,
Now into states of being, all this way... we have come.

O ship of grace, where is thy anchor of forbearance?
For in this ocean of generosity, immersed in sin... we have come.

Hâfez, throw off your woolen kherqe [Sufi cloak], for we,
from behind the caravan, with the fire of sighing "ah!"... we have come.


II. suffer no grief

Forsaken Joseph to Canaan shall return.
Suffer no grief.

Upon the thorny stalks of family grief, a rose shall bloom.
Suffer no grief...

If you desire the Way and plant your pilgrim foot in the desert,
Then if the mighty Arabian thorn make reproofs,
Suffer no grief...

Suffer no grief, suffer no grief, O heart.
Back to reason, comes this distraught head.
Suffer no grief...

O heart, despairing heart,
O! O! Suffer no grief...

There is no road that has no end.


III. closer to the fire

Last night I saw the angels beat at the door of the tavern,
The clay of Adam, they shaped and into the mould, they cast.

The churches war among themselves, forgive them;
When they could not see the truth, they beat the door of fable.

Fire, Fire! Oh! Oh!

Thanks be to God, for between me and Him, peace chanced,
The dancing Sufis cast the cup of thankfulness!

Fire, Fire! Oh! Oh!


IV. boatpeople

My heart falls from grasp. For God's sake come to my cry, O pious ones;
O the pain that Love's hidden mystery should be disclosed!

Arise, arise… O breeze…

To ease the pain of the world, live by these words:
With friends, give kindness; with enemies, courtesy.

We are the shipwrecked. O fair breeze, arise!
So that, again, we may behold the face of the Beloved.

Behold…!


V. we have come (reprise)

We, to this door, not seeking pride or glory... we have come.
For shelter from ill-fortune, here... we have come.
sighing "ah!"...

We have come.

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