The Power of Love

[Jerry Gerber]

This piece was produced for my CD "In Praise of Poets"

Katy Stephan, soprano

Dale Tracy, tenor

Words by Sophocles (496 BC - 406 BC)

PLAY

Love, thou art victor in fight: thou mak'st all things afraid;

Thou couchest thee softly at night on the cheeks of a maid;

Thou passest the bounds of the sea, and the folds of the fields;

To thee the immortal, to thee the ephemeral yields;

Thou maddenest them that possess thee; thou turnest astray

The souls of the just, to oppress them, out of the way;

Thou hast kindled amongst us pride, and the quarrel of kin;

Thou art lord, by the eyes of a bride, and the love-light therein;

Thou sittest assessor with Right; her kingdom is thine,

Who sports with invincible might, Aphrodite divine.

[Jos Wylin]

Hi Jerry,

Very interesting poem (I like the old English, I've been an English teachre for more than 30 years...). You've scored it masterfully with a huge contrast in style (accompaniment and language), but with a very adequate correlation between textual content and musical tension.

Well done!

Jos (Max)