contents
1. summary
2. listen
3. programme notes
4. details
5. performances
summary
Come sempre is a new duo for soprano and coloratura soprano by Rozalie Hirs, commissioned by Susan Narucki and dedicated to its first performers, Susan Narucki (soprano) and Kirsten Ashley Wiest (coloratura soprano). The text is taken from the opening poem of Hirs’ eighth collection, ecologica (Uitgeverij Vleugels, 2023), here sung in the Italian translation by Patrizia Filia, to be published in the Italian edition of ecologica (Nous Editrice, Catania, 2026; forthcoming).
At the heart of come sempre lies the joy of singing — and of singing together. Hirs deliberately writes clear, singable melodic lines that move around broadly conceived, flexible tonal centres, which shift gradually to create a transparent, responsive harmonic landscape. The two voices engage in multiple forms of interaction: dialogue and responsorial exchange, completing each other’s melody or text, shaping a single line together, or moving in parallel melody and functional harmony. Vocal roles alternate throughout, without a fixed hierarchy.
The poem refers to the last pair of Siberian cranes (Leucogeranus leucogeranus), a critically endangered species that serves as a symbol of ecological vulnerability. At the same time, the poem questions language itself: words are shown to be fragile and “endangered,” yet indispensable for articulating care, mourning, and responsibility. In come sempre, these layers converge in a musical work that invites to listen in a shared, attentive, and caring act.
The photograph above of a family of Siberian cranes — mother, father, and chick — was taken in December 2023 by A Dim Light Chaser at Poyang Lake, China.
listen
Listening to follow in the summer of 2026.
programme notes
Rozalie Hirs – come sempre (2025)
for soprano and coloratura soprano
With come sempre, Rozalie Hirs composed a new duo for soprano and coloratura soprano, written on commission from Susan Narucki and dedicated to its first performers, Susan Narucki (soprano) and Kirsten Ashley Wiest (coloratura soprano). The text is drawn from the opening poem of Hirs’ eighth poetry collection ecologica (Uitgeverij Vleugels, 2023). This work sets the Italian translation by Patrizia Filia, to be published in the Italian edition of ecologica (Nous Editrice, Catania, 2026; forthcoming).
In come sempre, the joy of singing — and of singing together — lies at the heart of the work. Hirs deliberately chooses relatively simple, highly singable melodic lines that move around broadly conceived, flexible tonal centres. These tonal anchor points shift gradually, creating a harmonic landscape that is clear, supple, and responsive.
The two voices interact in a variety of ways: through dialogue and responsorial exchange, by completing each other’s text or melody, or by jointly shaping a single melodic line. At times there is a clear leading voice with a secondary voice; elsewhere the writing moves into parallel melody or functional harmony. Vocal roles continually alternate, preventing fixed hierarchies and fostering a fluid, open interplay.
The musical idiom is audibly inspired by bel canto — in its attention to legato, breath, and vocal flexibility — while extending this tradition into a contemporary musical language. The choice of Italian as the sung language is deliberate: its sonic richness and natural vocality enhance the lyrical and physical qualities of the music.
The poem ‘ecologic [1]’ (English translation by Michele Hutchison) opens with a gesture of surrender and perception:
“surrender as always smell the new season/ as earth disappears back into darker skies.” This surrender is not passive, but attentive — a way of facing a world that is withdrawing. Central to the poem is the Siberian crane (Leucogeranus leucogeranus), a critically endangered species, described as “the last/ pair of siberian cranes surprisingly still alive.”
Cranes are known for their lifelong pair bonding, their characteristic dance and song, and their seasonal migration. In this poem, that symbolism acquires a sharp contemporary urgency. The cranes are not mythical figures, but a concrete, almost vanished pair, standing for the vulnerability of ecosystems worldwide. Notably, it is not only animal life but language itself that is placed under pressure. The poem explicitly states: “surrender language in the name of the last/ pair.” Language must be given back, relinquished, in an ethical gesture that acknowledges that words are not autonomous. The cranes are read as punctuation: “their commas to be read as reflective decapitation.” The comma — pause, breath — becomes an image of ecological rupture: an abrupt interruption of what once flowed continuously.
In ecologica, Hirs explores how language falls short in the face of climate crisis and mass extinction, while remaining the only medium through which care, mourning, and responsibility can be articulated. Words themselves become “endangered words.” Sensory images — bees “wet with honey,” the “sweetest warbling of a nightingale … pregnant with meaning” — situate meaning not in fixed definitions, but in a fragile, forward-projected process of perception and interpretation.
The climate crisis is not addressed polemically in the poem, but is structurally present. The earth “disappears,” a shadow “extends itself to text or stars,” and yet a tentative possibility of continuation emerges: “the seed to be planted a new time indeed/ that captures the extinct pair in sacred books.” Art and language cannot undo loss, but they can preserve, mark, and transmit it. In come sempre, this idea finds a musical counterpart in repetition, return, and variation — forms of musical memory. The Italian title come sempre (“as always”) thus resonates as both tender and bitter: what does “always” mean in a time of ecological rupture?
With come sempre, Rozalie Hirs connects the vulnerability of a species with that of language, music, and human attention itself. The work invites listening as an act of care: concentrated, shared, and inseparable from the world in which it sounds.
©2025 Rozalie Hirs
details
commission
The work was commissioned by Susan Narucki.
dedication
The work is dedicated to its first performers Susan Narucki (soprano) and Kirsten Ashley Wiest (coloratura).
duration
The duration of the work is 7-10 minutes.
music publisher
The music score of come sempre by Rozalie Hirs is published by Deuss Music, The Hague, The Netherlands.
performances
14 January 2026, 7PM, Conrad Prebys Concert Hall, UC San Diego Department of Music, UC San Diego | School of Arts and Humanities, San Diego, United States – Susan Narucki (soprano), Kirsten Ashley Wiest (coloratura) – world premiere