And long gone by

Born 1947.
Birthplace unknown.

Before his work as an opera and concert singer, he has served congregations throughout southern California in several capacities, was in sales and marketing for Hewlett-Packard for almost ten years, was a member of Screen Actors Guild and did recordings for television, was a retail buyer and soldier in the United States Army and California National Guard.

Gary Bachlund now is a part time resident of both southern California and Berlin.

Bachlund has been a guest artist at Frankfurt Oper (in Frankfurt and on tour to Israel), Oper Köln (in both Köln and on tour in Japan), Oper Braunschweig, Pfalztheater, Staatstheater Kassel, Teatro Filharmonico (Arena di Verona), Teatro Regio, Oper Graz and principal guest artist the Metropolitan Opera, since his Carnegie Hall debut in 1986, as well as with LA Opera, Florentine Opera, Tulsa Opera, Minnesota Opera, Dallas Opera, Arizona Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Hawaii Opera Theater, Washington Opera, Royal Opera (de la Monnaie), Royal Opera (Antwerpen), Royal Opera de Wallonie (Liège), Opera de Paris (Bastille), Opera de Nancy et de Lorainne, Opera de Montpellier, Teatro Real (Madrid), and Teatro Municipal (Santiago), Welsh National Opera, Scottish National Opera, Edmonton Opera, L'Opera de Montreal, and Opera New Zealand.

And long gone by….

This work is for organ, marked for my own musings at the time in which it was made "in memoriam."

The tone of the work is one of mourning for reflection of that which is now "long gone by."
One may mourn that which was and is no more.

One may mourn that which never was but might have been.

One may mourn a moment, a time, a relationship, a separation or death, or even mourn a lost possibility -- that pathway which was not once followed.

It serves also as the first movement of a larger work for string sextet or string orchestra.
It is based on thoughts drawn from the poem by Rainer Maria Rilke and titled, as is the three movement work, Klage.