Live performance at Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels on 3 June 2012 orchestra: Le Concert d'Anvers conductor: Bart Van Reyn soprano: Ida Falk Winland tenor: Yves Saelens bass: Birger Radde more info: www.octopusensembles.be ARIA Lucas (tenor): Here stands a traveller now bewildered and perplexed, not knowing which way to turn. In vain he seeks the road, but finds neither path nor track. Vainly he tries to struggle, and wades through the deep snow; only to find himself more lost than ever. Now his courage ebbs away, his heart is gripped by the fear of seeing daylight disappear and being paralysed by weariness and cold. Now his courage ebbs away, his heart is gripped by fear, but suddenly his eye is caught by the glimmer of a light nearby. Now he breathes again, his heart throbs with joy. He runs towards the cottage where, cold and tired, he hopes to find refreshment. RECITATIVE Lucas (tenor): As he draws nigh, he catches, borne on the howling wind, the sound of voices bright and clear. Hannah (soprano): The warm room soon reveals the village's inhabitants gathered sociably to while away the evening with light tasks and chatter. Simon (bass): Fathers, sitting by the stove, natter about their youth while willow twigs are plaited into baskets, and their sons, in a jolly group, are making nets.