in perpetuum (2018)

Text

Carmen CI
by Gaius Valerius Catullus

Multās per gentēs et multa per aequora vectus
adveniō hās miserās, frāter, ad īnferiās,
ut tē postrēmō dōnārem mūnere mortis
et mūtam nequīquam alloquerer cinerem
quandōquidem fortūna mihi tētē abstulit ipsum
heu miser indignē frāter adempte mihi
nunc tamen intereā haec, prīscō quae mōre parentum
trādita sunt tristī mūnere ad īnferiās,
accipe frāternō multum mānantia flētū.
Atque in perpetuum, frāter, avē atque valē.

(Carried through many nations and over many seas,
I arrive, brother, for these wretched funeral rites
so that I might present you with the last tribute of death and speak in vain to silent ash,
since Fortune has carried you, yourself, away from me. Alas, poor brother, unfairly taken away from me, now in the meantime, nevertheless, these things which in the ancient custom of ancestors
are handed over as a sad tribute to the rites,
receive, dripping much with brotherly weeping.
And forever, brother, hail and farewell.)

General Information

Text: Carmen CI by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c. 60 BCE)
Commissioner
: Harvard-Westlake School World Language Department
Written: April – May, 2018
Duration: ca. 3’
Instrumentation: 2 tenor + baritone + bass

Performance History

May 21, 2018: Alex Davila and Charles Connon (tenor), Peter Sykes (baritone), and Benjamin Beckman (bass) at Rugby Theater, Los Angeles, CA (World Premiere)

Recording available upon request. Please use the contact form linked in the menu above, or email me at ben.beckman@yale.edu.