When I started setting Pilinszky’s six-line poem “Keringő” to music, I tried at first to make it waltz-like, but quickly found that the poem resisted this. So instead I followed the poem’s own rhythm, as I heard it. One line kept tripping me up, because it has a rhythm of its own: “szemközt a leáldozó nappal” (“across from the sacrificing sun”). I realized that I could make this a transition into a waltz, and from there a waltz rhythm would prevail. I don’t know how this sounds to a Hungarian ear, but to me this changing rhythm also works with the meaning of the poem. Only the last line of the poem really sounds like a waltz, but then the music keeps on going for a little while.
Pilinszky János, “Keringő”
A zongorát befutja a borostyán,
s a gyerekkori ház falát
szétmállasztja a naplemente.
És mégis, mégis szakadatlanúl
szemközt a leáldozó nappal
mindaz, mi elmúlt, halhatatlan.
In my rough translation, with some minor liberties:
János Pilinszky, “Waltz”The piano is entangled by the vine
and the setting sun crumbles
the wall of the childhood house.And yet, and yet, without fail,
across from the sacrificing sun,
all that is past is immortal.
I spent most of the day recording it, but it is still a draft. I now have seven musical renditions of Pilinszky and plan to re-record them all, maybe with a few others. My renditions of “Metronóm” and “A tengerpartra” are also on YouTube (in draft form); I think this is the best of the three, but all three will be better over time.
Take Away the Takeaway 