SKU: HL.1139323
ISBN 9781705183922. UPC: 196288114871.
From a short French poem by Antoine Thiollier, Stephenson uses an Oulipian process to amalgamate the words with similar sounding English words to gradually abstract the meaning behind them; the words seemingly melt into musical sounds. The hypnotic nature of the guitar writing allows this to happen almost imperceptibly with long phrases of sustained emotional atmosphere rising and falling quite naturally before the music appears to gently evaporate at the close. The way in which the two languages merge is a touching reflection of the fact that Stephenson and (Heloise) Werner, friends since childhood in Paris, both moved to the UK to study and there continued their long friendship. (Colin Alexander).
SKU: DY.DO-1538
ISBN 9782897963187.
When guitarist John Olson and soprano Gioia De Cari commissioned me to write a piece for them, I envi- sioned writing something theatrical that might especially suit Gioia, who is both a singer and an actress. Eventually, I thought of Mark Twain. The great American writer and humorist of substance wrote a short, little-known book called The Diary of Adam and Eve, which is, of course, about the first days of human life on this earth, in Twainâs witty, but touching take on the Bible story. Adam and Eve each write diary entries. I chose several passages from Eveâs diary that convey the sense of constant wonder that she felt because absolutely everything in her world was new.Setting prose, rather than poetry, is a challenge for a composer because it has neither the innate rhythm nor the lyricism of poetry. On some intuitive level, this challenge led me to a process that allowed the music to evolve mostly from the guitar part. Whereas normally the vocal melody might emerge first, motivated by the text and with the accompaniment then added for support, here the guitar part was the prime mover. An example of this is the last song, which is a passacaglia played by the guitar, providing the ground over which the vocal line can soar. Eveâs Diary was composed in 2015.Lorsque le guitariste John Olson et la soprano Gioia De Cari m'ont commandé une pièce pour eux, j'ai imaginé écrire quelque chose de théâtral qui pourrait particulièrement convenir à Gioia, qui est à la fois chanteuse et actrice. Finalement, j'ai pensé à Mark Twain. Le grand écrivain et humoriste américain a écrit un petit livre peu connu intitulé Le Journal d'Adam et Ãve, qui raconte les premiers jours de la vie humaine sur terre selon l'interprétation spirituelle et espiègle de Twain de l'histoire biblique. Adam et Ãve tiennent chacun un journal. J'ai choisi plusieurs passages du journal d'Ãve qui expriment ce sentiment d'émerveillement constant qu'elle ressentait, car absolument tout dans son monde était nouveau.Mettre en musique de la prose, plutôt que de la poésie, est un défi pour un compositeur car elle n'a ni le rythme inné ni le lyrisme de la poésie. Intuitivement, ce défi m'a conduit à un processus qui a permis à la musique d'évoluer principalement à partir de la partie de guitare. Alors que normalement la mélodie vocale pourrait émerger en premier, motivée par le texte et avec l'accompagnement ajouté ensuite pour le soutien, ici la partie de guitare était le moteur principal. Un exemple en est la dernière chanson, qui est une passacaille jouée à la guitare, fournissant le fond sur lequel la ligne vocale peut s'élever. Le Journal d'Ãve a été composé en 2015.
© 2000 - 2024 Home - New realises - Composers Legal notice - Full version
