Red Omen

Ozymandias

Year 2011
Time 3:22
Size 4.64 MB
Ozymandias 

I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

“Ozymandias” is one of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s most famous and enduring poems. Published in 1818, the sonnet masterfully evokes a poignant image of foolish hubris and wryly comments on the futility of human endeavor. Incidentally, its structure – with the long build to the climax at the tenth line – lends itself well to being set to music, in this case as an art song for tenor and piano.

The poem has a strange rhyme scheme (ABABACDCEDEFEF), with rhyming lines interspersed at odd intervals. I sought to emulate this by peppering the song with motives at unpredictable moments: plagal cadences in both Dorian mode and in minor with Picardy third, as well as minor triads rising by a minor third (resulting in ascending octatonic passages, extremely tense and dark).

This piece was premiered April 10, 2011 by tenor Todd Brennan and pianist Charles Ditto and received another performance on May 3 by tenor Chris Hart and pianist Matt Jaskot. This version from November 30, 2011, features tenor Dalton Flake and pianist Charles Ditto and was recorded and produced by Corey Walo.

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