Aftersong, 10 min, 16mm, 2023
Dying from tuberculosis, English nature writer Richard Jefferies wrote his ‘spiritual
autobiography’, ‘The Story of My Heart’ (1883). The work is less autobiography than a
spiritual outpouring, fusing observations of the natural world with speculations on another
world. Nearly forty years later, the french composer Lili Boulanger, dictated a setting for a
hymn-requiem ‘Pie Jesu’ (1918) to her sister Nadia Boulanger as she lay dying from
intestinal tuberculosis. She was 24 years old.
Pie Jesu Domine,
Dona eis requiem.
Pie Jesu Domine,
Dona eis requiem sempiternam.
Pious Lord Jesus,
Give them rest.
Pious Lord Jesus,
Give them everlasting rest.