Farewell, sun! (Adieu, soleil!)

• Main Author: Vear, Craig
• Format: Musical Notation
• Language: unknown
• Published: Composers Edition 2015
• Subjects: Antarctic; Austral; Jules; Antarc*
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2086/11385; http://composersedition.com/composers/craigvear/ce-cv1fs2

This composition explores the imaginary sound world evoked by a quote for Jules Verne's book Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea(s) (1869): “Adieu, soleil! s'écria-t-il. Disparais, astre radieux! Couche-toi sous cette mer libre, et laisse une nuit de six mois étendre ses ombres sur mon nouveau domaine!”. This poetic phrase, a surprising and moving lament by Captain Nemo, directed at the vanishing Antarctic sun as it retires for the Austral winter, is capable of being interpreted in several ways. It is, by its content, a deep and dark composition due to its literal and metaphoric associations. But, for me, the homonym of sun (for son) offers a more personal interpretation of the phrase. Farewell, sun! (Adieu, soleil!) (2015) is the second movement of a collection of works entitled the Sea Quartet. This composition explores the imaginary sound world evoked by a quote for Jules Verne's book Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea(s) (1869): “Adieu, soleil! s'écria-t-il. Disparais, astre radieux! Couche-toi sous cette mer libre, et laisse une nuit de six mois étendre ses ombres sur mon nouveau domaine!”. This poetic phrase, a surprising and moving lament by Captain Nemo, directed at the vanishing Antarctic sun as it retires for the Austral winter, is capable of being interpreted in several ways. It is, by its content, a deep and dark composition due to its literal and metaphoric associations. But, for me, the homonym of sun (for son) offers a more personal interpretation of the phrase. Farewell, sun! (Adieu, soleil!) (2015) is the second movement of a collection of works entitled the Sea Quartet.