VWV 32 · Solo Vocal · 2026 ·
The Wick Burns Low
Nocturne — Cycle: Das Verlöschen II
- Catalogue
- VWV 32
- Key
- C-sharp minor
- Form
- Nocturne
- Scoring
- Baritone & piano
- Composed
- 2026
- Duration
- 6:24
First performed Wigmore Hall, London · 14 November 2026 — Nikolai Voss, baritone · Clara Henningsen, piano
Commissioned by Wigmore Hall
To all who keep a light burning
The candle steadies; the house falls silent; and the harmony has already sagged a third below the opening song. The lamp motif leans and recovers in the right hand while the voice holds an unbroken legato across the bar-lines — the first of the cycle's many refusals to let a phrase end where the listener expects.
From Das Verlöschen · NV-014
On the cycle's thematic unity: The Lamp Motif →
Performance materials +
- Forces
- Baritone & piano
- Tessitura
- Baritone (G2–F4); soprano (C4–B5) where indicated
- Materials
- Voice & piano score
- Availability
- On sale · Voss Editions
- Grade
- Intermediate–Advanced — recital
- ISMN
- 979-0-706032-224-6
Text
Reading view →Das Verlöschen, No. 2 · Sung in German
Text by Nikolai Voss
Der Docht wird kurz, die Stunde still,
das Haus hält seinen Atem an.
Ich bleibe wach, weil bleiben will,
was bald nicht bleiben kann.
The wick burns short, the hour is still,
the house is holding in its breath.
I stay awake, because I will,
by what so soon meets death.
Noch einmal hebt die kleine Glut
den Schatten an die Wand.
Und sinkt. Und sammelt neuen Mut.
Und löscht aus meiner Hand.
Once more the little ember lifts
its shadow up the wall.
And sinks. And gathers heart, and drifts.
And dies within my hand.
