Deux Nocturnes

These two settings of French texts for soprano and orchestra were Goldschmidt final compositions. The first, Judith by Pierre le Moyne (1602-71), describes the Jewish woman who wreaks vengeance on her Assyrian captor Holofernes by creeping into his tent at night and cutting off his head with a sword. The second, Rondel, sets a poem by Tristan Corbiere (1845-75), a highly unconventional writer who spent his life in complete obscurity in Brittany and was posthumously discovered by Verlaine. Together, these ‘dramatic arias’ form a moving and fitting close to Goldschmidt’s compositional career with an economy of expression, line and gesture characteristic of his late style. Each aria may be performed separately if desired.