Consciousness (Eszmélet) op. 10 (1997/2003)
- song cycle based on poems by Ferenc Szabó for bariton and chamber ensemble
Consciousness is a song cycle written to three poems taken from the Jesuit monk Ferenc Szabó’s collection, Voice of Psalm. Both the text and the musical rendering of “Belonging to You” consist of two parts. The passage culminating in the question “What in the end remains for me?” With its ascending music and recitative-like vocal part offsets the free-flowing melodiousness of the response “You are” which provides a dynamic-harmonic climax. “The Metamorphosis of the Metaphor” is an image of nature rendered by means of wonderful string tones. The title song of the series (Consciousness) borrows a few lines from Attila József’s famous poem, too. The poetic imagery of mounting hopelessness, fear and desperation is accentuated by the accompanying tense string tremolos and double-stops of diminished and perfect fifths. The onomatopoeic renderings of the line “Thump” create an interesting break: finally, as a redeeming climax, a sonority of diatonic fifth ends the piece.
The work was first performed by Ákos Ambrus and the Componensemble, conducted by Zsolt Serei
In the Small Hall (Solti Hall) of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music on 7 October 1997.
Duration: 11 minutes

Ferenc Szabó: Consciousness

I. Belonging to You
All that is invisible of me
All that is unknown about me
All that is incomprehensible in me
All that is unutterable about me
All that is unconfessable about me
All that is unfinishable
All that is a morsel of goodness
All that is a spark of beauty,
All that is a secret between the two of us (only)
All that is in my depths the dream of peace
All that is in my soul the flame of life
All that is in my body the ashes of death,
All belongs to you -
What in the end remains for me?
You are - for me that is enough.
I have received everything from you
I am born from you and shall lose
in you my fading life
thus finding myself again
Negation and lack are mine
and perhaps the chance,
but these, too, are in your hands
Make me what you intended me to be!
Flow into me and fill my voids
Give me the joy of our togetherness!

II. The Metamorphosis of Metaphor
The fountain of memories is slowly covered in moss
Down below now and then
the midday sun flashes after it has
passed mid way through the sky,
but mostly the downy darkness
silently sleeps
and starts up when a stone
is tossed into the water.

A kind of magic,
a tide-bringing moon
draws the water from the depths
silvery midnight flow
through the crystalline water
the silkiness of your girlish hair
your eyes sparkle
down below the stone sleeps

Time drains away
beneath the thin water
the stone motionless broods.

III. Consciousness
Night-time in and out
“fluffy darkness blows”
the kernel of the presents splits
self-consciousness peeks through
you see yourself in “booth light”
as time runs past.

Broken, you ruminate over the past
You seek to split the crevice of the future
your efforts are in vain
darkness gets thicker in every turn
it is fanned not by girlish moonlight
the icy whirlpool gapes
nothing-teeth glitter

Where then is hope nesting?
When will fear return to its hollow?
When will the silent cell bars of the
stars break open?

Rebel, soul - freedom!
thump “golden self-conciousness”!
Hope is our natural force:
at he break of day
the “fluffy darkness” dissolves
and once again in the jubilant sunshine
“cilium lightness” flutters!

English Translation by Miklós Bodóczky