Fang Man Texts and Translations, Program Notes, Acknowledgements

Texts: Earth for Soprano, Baritone and Ensemble

by Fang Man
Movement I: Bass Baritone
（1）悲歌行 Song of Sorrow
李白 Li Bai
悲来乎，悲来乎。 The wine in the golden cup calls us,
主人有酒且莫斟，听我一曲悲来吟。 but first let me sing you a song of sorrow
悲来不吟还不笑，天下无人知我心。 which shall ring laughingly in your soul.
君有数斗酒，我有三尺琴。 When sorrow comes the gardens of the soul lie waste,
琴鸣酒乐两相得，一杯不啻千钧金。 joy and song fade and die: Dark is life, dark is death.
悲来乎，悲来乎。 Master of this house! Your cellar is full of golden wine!
天虽长，地虽久，金玉满堂应不守。 This lyre I shall call mine, for emptying the glass
富贵百年能几何，死生一度人皆有。 and sounding the lyre are things that go together.
A full beaker of wine at the right time
孤猿坐啼坟上月，且须一尽杯中酒。 is worth more than all the riches of this world:
悲来乎，悲来乎。 Dark is life, dark is death. The sky is endlessly blue,
凤凰不至河无图，微子去之箕子奴。 and the earth will long remain, and bloom in Spring.
汉帝不忆李将军，楚王放却屈大夫。 But you, Man, how long will you remain
Not even a hundred years shall you enjoy
the moldering trinkets of this earth.
悲来乎，悲来乎。 A wild, ghostly figure crouches in the moonlight
秦家李斯早追悔，虚名拨向身之外。 on the tombs – it is an Ape!
范子何曾爱五湖，功成名遂身自退。 Listen, its howling cuts through the sweet scent of Life.
剑是一夫用，书能知姓名。 Now, drink the wine! Now is the time, comrades!
惠施不肯干万乘，卜式未必穷一经。 Empty your golden cups to the lees!
还须黑头取方伯，莫谩白首为儒生。 Dark is life, dark is death.

Movement II: Soprano
（2）效古秋夜長 Imitation of Old Poem: Long Autumn Night
（錢起） Qian Qi

秋漢飛玉霜，北風掃荷香。
 Autumn sky, jade-like frost drifting; Northerly wind carries lotus fragrance

含情紡織孤燈盡，拭淚相思寒漏長 With love, weaving till the lonely lamp fades; Wipe tears, fond memory, long cold night
前碧雲靜如水，月弔棲烏啼鳥起。 Eaves edge, blue clouds pure like water; Rising moon, roosting birds caw; geese soar.
誰家少婦事鴛機，錦幕雲屏深掩扉 Whose young wife is weaving love birds on her loom? Deeply concealed by silk curtain and

inlaid screen

白玉窗中聞落葉，應憐寒女獨無衣。 Listening to falling leaves by the white jade window; Pity the woman, chilled and alone without

company]

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Movement III : Soprano and Baritone
（3） 宴陶家亭子 Banquet at Tao’s Family Pavilion
作者：李白 Li Bai
曲巷幽人宅，高門大士家。 Winding path; private residence in quietude; Tall gate; great scholar’s home;
池開照膽鏡，林吐破顏花。 Open pond mirrors reflection; Protruding forest trees intersperse with colorful flowers
綠水藏春日，青軒秘晚霞。 Turquoise water hides the Spring sun; Green room camouflages evening amber
若聞弦管妙，金谷不能夸。 If strings and woodwinds are delightful to hear, Unmatched by “golden valley” *

(4) 采蓮曲 Lotus-plucking Song
作者：李白 Li Bai
若耶溪旁采蓮女，笑隔荷花共人語 By Ruo-Ye* Brook, lotus-picking girls, Laughter and chatters among lotus flowers,
日照新妝水底明，風飄香袂空中舉 Sun shines on the painted beauty – clear in the water; Breeze lifts fragrant sleeves in the a
岸上誰家游冶郎，三三五五映垂楊 At the bank, who are the wandering young men; Gathering in threes and fives by the willow
紫騮嘶入落花去，見此踟躕空斷腸 Purple horses neighing pass, flowers fallen; Witnessing this, troubled and lament in vain

Movement IV : Baritone and Soprano

（5）春日醉起言志 Feelings upon Awakening from Drunkenness on a Spring Day
李白 Li Bai
处世若大梦，胡为劳其生。 Earthly life resembles big dream; Pointless slaving oneself
所以终日醉，颓然卧前楹。 Hence drunken all day；Crouching, disheartened, at the front pillar
觉来盼庭前，一鸟花间鸣。 Stare before the courtyard upon awakening; A bird sings among the flowers
借问此何时，春风语流莺。 Ask: what season is this? The nightingale speaks of Spring breezes
感之欲叹息，对酒还自倾。 Moved, one desires to sigh; Facing the wine, pour for oneself
浩歌待明月，曲尽已忘情。 Singing loudly, awaiting the moon: Song ends, feelings forgotten

(German texts adapted by Mahler from Hans Bethge in Das lied von der Erde)

V. Der Trunkene im Frühling
Wenn nu rein Traum das Leben ist,
Warum den Müh’ und Plag’!?
Ich trinke, bis ich nicht mehr kann,
Den ganzen, lieben Tag!
Und wenn ich nicht mehr trinken kann,
Weil Kehl’ und Seele voll,
So tauml’ich bis zu meiner Tür
Und schlafe wundervoll!
Was hör’ ich beim Erwachen? Horch!
Ein Vogel singt im Baum,
Ich frag’ihn, ob schon Frühling sei,
Mir ist als wie im Traum,

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Der Vogel zwitschert: Ja!
Der Lenz ist da, sei kommen über Nacht!
Aus tiefstem Schauen lauscht’ich auf,
Der Vogel singt und lacht!
Ich fülle mire den Becher neu
Und leer’ ihn bis zum Grund
Und singe, bis der Mond erglänzt
Am schwarzen Firmament!
Und wenn ich nicht mehr singen kann,
So schlaf’ ich wieder ein.
Was geht mich den der Frühling an!?
Laßt mich betrunken sein!
Interlude I between movement I and II

（6）宿業師山房待丁大不至 Staying at Teacher’s Mountain Retreat, Awaiting a Friend in Vain
孟浩然 Meng Haoran
夕陽度西嶺，群壑倏已暝 Dusk sun passes the western peak, Valleys have suddenly darkened
松月生夜涼，風泉滿清聽 moon above pine trees chills the night, wind, brook, filled with clear sound
樵人歸欲盡，煙鳥棲初定 woodcutters are almost all home, birds, in mist, are roosting
之子期宿來， 孤琴候蘿徑 The man expected to stay the night has not yet come, lonely lute awaits at rattan trail

Interlude II between movement II and III

(7) 送别 Farewell
王维 Wang Wei
下马饮君酒，问君何所之？ Dismount horse, drink your wine, Ask you: “Where to?”
君言不得意，归卧南山陲。 You say: “At odds with the world，Return to rest by the South Hill.”
但去莫复向，白云天尽时。 Please go. Ask no more. Endless, the white clouds.

Postlude after movement IV
（8） 《送别》 Farewell in the Mountain
王维 Wang Wei
山中相送罢，日暮掩柴扉。Bid each other farewell in the mountain, Closing wooden gate at dusk
春草年年绿，王孙归不归。Spring grass green again next year* Will the honored friend return?

Program Notes about Earth by Fang Man
I have long admired Gustav Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde (“The Song of the Earth”) for Tenor
and Alto (or Baritone) voice and orchestra. Four of the eight poems (number 1, 3, 4, and 5) Mahler
adopted are by Li Bai (701-762 C.E.), a Tang Dynasty poet renowned as one of the most significant and
influential figures in Chinese literature. Li Bai’s poetry is celebreated for its expressive economy and
evocative depictions of nature. Mahler also drew from the works of other prominent Tang poets,
including Qian Qi, Meng Haoran, and Wang Wei. For Mahler, the text served as a vehicle for his
profound and metaphysical musical meditation. While Das Lied von der Erde employs German translations
of these poems, I use the original Chinese texts in all movements, some combined with German and
English. My aim is to infuse my adaptation of these poems with similar grace and depth.

My work is composed for soprano and bass-baritone voices, a sextet (flute/alto flute,
clarinet/bass clarinet, percussion, piano, violin and cello). It consists of four movements: Song of Sorrow
(poem 1), Song of a Lonely Autumn Night (poem 2), Song of Youth and Beauty (poem 3 and 4), and Song of the
Drunkard (poem 5). To connect the main movements, I included two short interludes and a postlude:
Interlude I (poem 6), Interlude II (poem 7), and Postlude (poem 8). The final three poems in these
interludes are farewell poems, spoken by the instrumental musicians rather than the singers.

The harmony of the piece is entirely based on Messiaen’s modes of limited transposition. Based
these modes, I developed a series of symmetrical chords for the first, second, and fourth movements,
forming the foundation of their harmonic structure. I liken this to water and its symmetrical reflection,
which has become the significant element in many of my works.

I began creating Earth in November 2010 and completed it in March 2013. The work was
commissioned by the Philadelphia-based Dolce Suono Ensemble, with grants from the Serge
Koussevitzky Music Foundation and Meet the Composer’s 2010 Commissioning Music/USA program. I
am deeply grateful to these organizations for valuing my music and supporting this project.
I would especially like to thank Mimi Stillman, director of Dolce Suono Ensemble, and her family
for their unwavering support over the past decade. And I extend my heartfelt thanks to all the musicians
involved in this new performance and recording: Ashley Marie Robillard, soprano; Norman Garrett,
bass-baritone; Jason Fettig, conductor; Mimi Stillman, flute; Calvin Falwell, clarinet; Juliette Kang, violin;
Gabriel Cabezas, cello; Charles Abramovic, piano; Gabriel Globus-Hoenich, percussion.

Fang Man
June, 2025