Where Corals Lie

Ruth Willemse: “The songs of Elgar, Mahler and Wagner expose these fears, but in the end they also bring hope and consolation. Nature seems at times to be a reflection of our human inner world. Something similar happens in the music, where the emotional connection with this interior world is extremely direct. For me this consolation lies in the feeling of recognition that can be found in the music”.

When Mathilde Wesendonck gives thanks to Nature at the end of Schmerzen for the realisation that joy and sorrow continually alternate, Wagner bathes her words in a glorious postlude. The end of Rückert’s Um Mitternacht is enveloped by Mahler with similar hope-laden sonorities. Elgar takes his singer to an optimistic high A on the word ‘love’ at the conclusion of The Swimmer and brings her through troubled waters to the point ‘where no love wanes’.