KUCHEN! (Another Mother's Son) a setting from
Fragments: Voices from the First World War
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DETAILS AND TEXTS/TRANSLATIONS.
Kuchen! (Another Mother's Son): Composer's note: This section focuses on a
German family story, told to me by a friend,
15 of soldiers returning to the village
where they were billeted. To their surprise and
delight, they were presented with cake
('Kuchen!') by the villagers, although they were
on enemy soil. In the context of the extreme food
shortages, this is an extraordinary and very moving
event, which makes sense when every soldier is viewed
as 'another mother's son'. This is the basis of my
text. Musically, I have visualised a rather inept
village band in celebratory mood, faltering to a halt
with the appearance of a bereaved mother, but picking
up the threads again as the soldiers return to their
cake.
Texts:
Kuchen[15]
We bring some cake here, it is for you
Eat and be rested, you are too thin
Habt ihr gehört? Habt ihr gehört? [Have you heard? Have you heard?]
Hier gibt es Kuchen, Kuchen für uns! [There's cake here, cake for us!]
Kuchen! Kuchen! Kuchen für uns! Schmeckt! [Cake! Cake! Cake for us! Tasty!]
Vielen Dank, das ist gut! [Many thanks, it's good!]
Kuchen! Kuchen! Kuchen für uns!
Cake will do you good!
Somewhere I have a son; he fought and killed just like
you
He smiled, had fears, but I cannot dry his tears
And he lived and like cake just like you.
He was his mother's son; you are your mother's
son
And you still live, to you I give this cake to a
mother's son.
Somewhere now lies my son; he fought and killed just
like you
He smiled, had fears, and I cannot dry my tears
But I can give to another mother's son.
He smiled, had fears, and she cannot dry her
tears
But she can give to another mother's son.
Hier gibt es Kuchen, Kuchen für uns!
Eat and be rested, you look too thin...
Kuchen, Kuchen, Kuchen für uns! Cake will do you
good.
REFERENCES:
15 Text by Emily Feldberg, based on an
account by Anna Fleisch recalling a story told by her
grandfather, who never otherwise talked about the war.
Used by kind permission of Anna Fleisch. Thanks too to
Dody Scheffler for advice on this and other issues.
AUDIO
EXTRACT (voices and orchestra)
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