René Staar

2 Lieder nach Worten der Else Lasker Schüler op. 20/I/b

The two songs based on texts by Else Lasker-Schüler op. 20 I were written between 1987 and 1995 for the soprano Donna Robin. They are settings of two tender poems by the famous German-Jewish poet, who spent the last years of her life in Jerusalem. Lasker-Schüler died in 1945; her grave in the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives was destroyed during the partition of Jerusalem after 1948. Apart from the gravestone, which was later rediscovered, we are left only with the touching texts by this significant personality of German literature. The two selected texts inspired the composer to write what became a gift to his future wife Donna. After numerous sketches and revisions, this sensitive, melancholic work now exists in two versions: one for piano, and one for chamber ensemble.