And Fragments of a Dream

Description

The inspiration for And Fragments of a Dream comes from the poem L’Enfant et les Sortileges by Colette. In the scene where the ‘bad’ child destroys his storybook about a beautiful princess the characters in the story come to life in a golden cloud. The scene is haunting and is presented like a dream. The child realizes what he has done and what he has lost. In the Ravel setting, in his opera with the same title as the Colette poem, the child turns to try to save the ‘golden princess’, to no avail, as she is carried off in a hazy cloud. The ‘bad’ child sings:

You, the heart of the rose,
you the white lily’s scent,
you, your hands and your crown,
your blue eyes and your jewels…
You’ve only left me like a moonbeam,
a golden hair upon my shoulder,
a golden hair… and fragments of a dream…

Published by: RBC Publications