Boy
Soprano, Soprano, Tenor,
Flugelhorn, Mixed Chorus,
and Chamber Orchestra
Study Score. Composed
by Harald Weiss. This
edition: Paperback/Soft
Cover. Sheet music. Study
Score. Classical.
Softcover. Composed
2008/2009. 188 pages.
Duration 100'. Schott
Music #ED20619. Published
by Schott Music
(HL.49018099).
ISBN
9790001158428. UPC:
884088567347.
8.25x11.75x0.457 inches.
Latin - German.
On
letting go(Concerning the
selection of the texts)
In the selection of the
texts, I have allowed
myself to be motivated
and inspired by the
concept of 'letting go'.
This appears to me to be
one of the essential
aspects of dying, but
also of life itself. We
humans cling far too
strongly to successful
achievements, whether
they have to do with
material or ideal values,
or relationships of all
kinds. We cannot and do
not want to let go,
almost as if our life
depended on it. As we
will have to practise the
art of letting go at the
latest during our hour of
death, perhaps we could
already make a start on
this while we are still
alive. Tagore describes
this farewell with very
simple but strikingly
vivid imagery: 'I will
return the key of my
door'. I have set this
text for tenor solo. Here
I imagine, and have
correspondingly noted in
a certain passage of the
score, that the
protagonist finds himself
as though 'in an ocean'
of voices in which he is
however not drowning, but
immersing himself in
complete relaxation. The
phenomenon of letting go
is described even more
simply and tersely in
Psalm 90, verse 12: 'So
teach us to number our
days, that we may apply
our hearts unto wisdom'.
This cannot be expressed
more plainly.I have begun
the requiem with a solo
boy's voice singing the
beginning of this psalm
on a single note, the
note A. This in effect
says it all. The work
comes full circle at the
culmination with a repeat
of the psalm which
subsequently leads into a
resplendent 'lux
aeterna'. The
intermediate texts of the
Requiem which highlight
the phenomenon of letting
go in the widest spectrum
of colours originate on
the one hand from the
Latin liturgy of the
Messa da Requiem (In
Paradisum, Libera me,
Requiem aeternam, Mors
stupebit) and on the
other hand from poems by
Joseph von Eichendorff,
Hermann Hesse,
Rabindranath Tagore and
Rainer Maria Rilke.All
texts have a distinctive
positive element in
common and view death as
being an organic process
within the great system
of the universe, for
example when Hermann
Hesse writes: 'Entreiss
dich, Seele, nun der
Zeit, entreiss dich
deinen Sorgen und mache
dich zum Flug bereit in
den ersehnten Morgen'
['Tear yourself way , o
soul, from time, tear
yourself away from your
sorrows and prepare
yourself to fly away into
the long-awaited
morning'] and later: 'Und
die Seele unbewacht will
in freien Flugen
schweben, um im
Zauberkreis der Nacht
tief und tausendfach zu
leben' ['And the
unfettered soul strives
to soar in free flight to
live in the magic sphere
of the night, deep and
thousandfold']. Or Joseph
von Eichendorff whose
text evokes a distant
song in his lines: 'Und
meine Seele spannte weit
ihre Flugel aus. Flog
durch die stillen Lande,
als floge sie nach Haus'
['And my soul spread its
wings wide. Flew through
the still country as if
homeward bound.']Here a
strong romantically
tinged occidental
resonance can be detected
which is however also
accompanied by a
universal spirit going
far beyond all cultures
and religions. In the
beginning was the sound
Long before any sort of
word or meaningful phrase
was uttered by vocal
chords, sounds,
vibrations and tones
already existed. This
brings us back to the
music. Both during my
years of study and at
subsequent periods, I had
been an active
participant in the world
of contemporary music,
both as percussionist and
also as conductor and
composer. My early scores
had a somewhat
adventurous appearance,
filled with an abundance
of small black dots: no
rhythm could be too
complicated, no register
too extreme and no
harmony too dissonant. I
devoted myself intensely
to the handling of
different parameters
which in serial music
coexist in total
equality: I also studied
aleatory principles and
so-called minimal music.I
subsequently emigrated
and took up residence in
Spain from where I
embarked on numerous
travels over the years to
India, Africa and South
America. I spent repeated
periods during this time
as a resident in
non-European countries.
This meant that the
currents of contemporary
music swept past me
vaguely and at a great
distance. What I instead
absorbed during this
period were other
completely new cultures
in which I attempted to
immerse myself as
intensively as possible.I
learned foreign languages
and came into contact
with musicians of all
classes and styles who
had a different cultural
heritage than my own: I
was intoxicated with the
diversity of artistic
potential.Nevertheless,
the further I distanced
myself from my own
Western musical heritage,
the more this returned
insistently in my
consciousness.The scene
can be imagined of
sitting somewhere in the
middle of the Brazilian
jungle surrounded by the
wailing of Indians and
out of the blue being
provided with the
opportunity to hear
Beethoven's late string
quartets: this can be a
heart-wrenching
experience, akin to an
identity crisis. This
type of experience can
also be described as
cathartic. Whatever the
circumstances, my
'renewed' occupation with
the 'old' country would
not permit me to return
to the point at which I
as an audacious young
student had maltreated
the musical parameters of
so-called contemporary
music. A completely
different approach would
be necessary: an
extremely careful
approach, inching my way
gradually back into the
Western world: an
approach which would
welcome tradition back
into the fold, attempt to
unfurl the petals and
gently infuse this
tradition with a breath
of contemporary
life.Although I am aware
that I will not unleash a
revolution or scandal
with this approach, I am
nevertheless confident
as, with the musical
vocabulary of this
Requiem, I am travelling
in an orbit in which no
ballast or complex
structures will be
transported or intimated:
on the contrary, I have
attempted to form the
message of the texts in
music with the naivety of
a 'homecomer'. Harald
WeissColonia de San
PedroMarch 2009.
New music
(post-2000). Full score.
Composed 2016/17/20. 48
pages. Duration 8'.
Breitkopf and Haertel #PB
5432. Published by
Breitkopf and Haertel
(BR.PB-5432).
ISBN
9790004212790. 10 x 12.5
inches.
Marche
fatale is an incautiously
daring escapade that may
annoy the fans of my
compositions more than my
earlier works, many of
which have prevailed only
after scandals at their
world premieres. My
Marche fatale has,
though, little
stylistically to do with
my previous compositional
path; it presents itself
without restraint, if not
as a regression, then
still as a recourse to
those empty phrases to
which modern civilization
still clings in its daily
utility music, whereas
music in the 20th and
21st centuries has long
since advanced to new,
unfamiliar soundscapes
and expressive
possibilities. The key
term is banality. As
creators we despise it,
we try to avoid it -
though we are not safe
from the cheap banal even
within new aesthetic
achievements.Many
composers have
incidentally accepted the
banal. Mozart wrote Ein
musikalischer Spass [A
Musical Jape], a
deliberately amateurishly
miscarried sextet.
Beethoven's Bagatellen
op. 119 were rejected by
the publisher on the
grounds that few will
believe that this minor
work is by the famous
Beethoven. Mauricio Kagel
wrote, tongue in cheek,
so to speak, Marsche, um
den Sieg zu verfehlen
[Marches for being
Unvictorious], Ligeti
wrote Hungarian Rock; in
his Circus Polka
Stravinsky quoted and
distorted the famous, all
too popular Schubert
military march, composed
at the time for piano
duet. I myself do not
know, though, whether I
ought to rank my Marche
fatale alongside these
examples: I accept the
humor in daily life, the
more so as this daily
life for some of us is
not otherwise to be
borne. In music, I
mistrust it, considering
myself all the closer to
the profounder idea of
cheerfulness having
little to do with humor.
However: Isn't a march
with its compelling claim
to a collectively martial
or festive mood absurd, a
priori? Is it even music
at all? Can one march and
at the same time listen?
Eventually, I resolved to
take the absurd seriously
- perhaps bitterly
seriously - as a
debunking emblem of our
civilization that is
standing on the brink.
The way - seemingly
unstoppable - into the
black hole of all
debilitating demons: that
can become serene. My old
request of myself and my
music-creating
surroundings is to write
a non-music, whence the
familiar concept of music
is repeatedly re-defined
anew and differently, so
that derailed here -
perhaps? - in a
treacherous way, the
concert hall becomes the
place of mind-opening
adventures instead of a
refuge in illusory
security. How could that
happen? The rest is -
thinking.(Helmut
Lachenmann, 2017)CD
(Version for
Piano):Nicolas Hodges CD
Wergo WER 7393 2
Bibliography:Ich bin
nicht ,,pietistisch
verformt. Ein Gesprach
[von Jan Brachmann] mit
dem Komponisten Helmut
Lachenmann, in: FAZ vom
7. Juni 2018, p.
15.
World premiere
of the piano version:
Mito/Japan, June 17,
2017, World premiere of
the orchestral version:
Stuttgart, January 1,
2018, World premiere of
the ensemble version:
Frankfurt, December 9,
2020.
Orchestra SKU: PR.11641867L Composed by William Kraft. Spiral. Large Scor...(+)
Orchestra
SKU:
PR.11641867L
Composed
by William Kraft. Spiral.
Large Score. Duration 16
minutes, 25 seconds.
Theodore Presser Company
#116-41867L. Published by
Theodore Presser Company
(PR.11641867L).
UPC:
680160683215.
Conte
xtures: Riots -Decade '60
was commissioned by Zubin
Mehta and the Southern
California Symphony
Association after the
successful premiere of
the Concerto for Four
Percussion Soloists and
Orchestra. It was written
during the spring and
summer months of 1967.
Riots stemming from
resentment against the
racial situation in the
United States and the war
in Vietnam were occurring
throughout the country
and inevitably invaded
the composer's creative
subconscious.
Contextures, as the title
implies, was intended to
exploit various and
varying textures. As the
work progressed the
correspondence between
the fabric of music and
the fabric of society
became apparent and the
allegory grew in
significance. So I found
myself translating social
aspects into musical
techniques. Social
stratification became a
polymetric situation
where disparate groups
function together. The
conflict between the
forces of expansion and
the forces of containment
is expressed through and
opposition of tonal
fluidity vs. rigidity.
This is epitomized in the
fourth movement, where
the brass is divided into
two groups - a muted
group, encircled by the
unmuted one, which does
its utmost to keep the
first group within a
restricted pitch area.
The playful jazzy bits
(one between the first
and second movements and
one at the end of the
piece) are simply saying
that somehow in this age
of turmoil and anxiety
ways of having fun are
found even though that
fun may seem
inappropriate. The piece
is in five movements,
with an interlude between
the first and second
movements. It is scored
for a large orchestra,
supplemented by six
groups of percussion,
including newly created
roto-toms (small tunable
drums) and some original
devices, such as muted
gongs and muted
vibraphone. There is also
an offstage jazz quartet:
bass, drums, soprano
saxophone and trumpet.
The first movement begins
with a solo by the first
clarinetist which is
interrupted by
intermittent heckling
from his colleagues
leading to a
configuration of large
disparate elements. The
interlude of solo violin
and snare-drum follows
without pause. The second
movement, Prestissimo, is
a display piece of
virtuosity for the entire
orchestra. The third
movement marks a period
of repose and reflection
and calls for some
expressive solos,
particularly by the horn
and alto saxophone. The
fourth movement opens
with a rather lengthy
oboe solo, which is
threatened by large
blocks of sound from the
orchestra, against an
underlying current of
agitated energy in the
piano and percussion.
This leads to a section
in which large orchestral
forces oppose one
another, ultimately
bringing the work to a
climax, if not to a
denouement. Various
thematic elements are
strewn all over the
orchestra, resulting in
the formation of a
general haze of sound. A
transition leads to the
fifth movement without
pause. The musical haze
is pierced gently by the
offstage jazz group as if
they were attempting to
ignore and even dispel
the gloom, but a legato
bell sound enters and
hovers over both the jazz
group and the orchestra,
the latter making
statements of disquieting
finality. Two films were
conceived to accompany
portions of Contextures.
The first done by Herbert
Kosowar, was a
chemography film
(painting directly into
the film using dyes and
various implements) with
fast clips of riot
photographs. The second
was a film collage made
by photographically
abstracting details from
paintings of Reginald
Pollack. The purpose was
to invoke a non-specific
response - as in music -
but at the same time to
define the subject matter
of the piece. The films
were constructed to
correspond with certain
developments in the piece
and in no way affect the
independence and musical
flow of the piece, having
been made after the piece
was completed.
Contextures: Riots -
Decade '60 is dedicated
to Mehta, the Southern
California Symphony
Association and the Los
Angeles Philharmonic
Orchestra. The news of
the assassination of Dr.
Martin Luther King came
the afternoon of the
premiere, April 4, 1968.
That evening's
performances, and also
the succeeding ones, were
dedicated to him and a
special dedication to Dr.
King has been inserted
into he score. All the
music that follows the
jazz group - beginning
with the legato bell
sound playing the first 2
notes to We shall
overcome constitutes a
new ending to commemorate
Dr. King's death.
Orchestra SKU: PR.11641867S Composed by William Kraft. Full score. Durati...(+)
Orchestra
SKU:
PR.11641867S
Composed
by William Kraft. Full
score. Duration 16
minutes, 25 seconds.
Theodore Presser Company
#116-41867S. Published by
Theodore Presser Company
(PR.11641867S).
UPC:
680160683208.
Conte
xtures: Riots -Decade '60
was commissioned by Zubin
Mehta and the Southern
California Symphony
Association after the
successful premiere of
the Concerto for Four
Percussion Soloists and
Orchestra. It was written
during the spring and
summer months of 1967.
Riots stemming from
resentment against the
racial situation in the
United States and the war
in Vietnam were occurring
throughout the country
and inevitably invaded
the composer's creative
subconscious.
Contextures, as the title
implies, was intended to
exploit various and
varying textures. As the
work progressed the
correspondence between
the fabric of music and
the fabric of society
became apparent and the
allegory grew in
significance. So I found
myself translating social
aspects into musical
techniques. Social
stratification became a
polymetric situation
where disparate groups
function together. The
conflict between the
forces of expansion and
the forces of containment
is expressed through and
opposition of tonal
fluidity vs. rigidity.
This is epitomized in the
fourth movement, where
the brass is divided into
two groups - a muted
group, encircled by the
unmuted one, which does
its utmost to keep the
first group within a
restricted pitch area.
The playful jazzy bits
(one between the first
and second movements and
one at the end of the
piece) are simply saying
that somehow in this age
of turmoil and anxiety
ways of having fun are
found even though that
fun may seem
inappropriate. The piece
is in five movements,
with an interlude between
the first and second
movements. It is scored
for a large orchestra,
supplemented by six
groups of percussion,
including newly created
roto-toms (small tunable
drums) and some original
devices, such as muted
gongs and muted
vibraphone. There is also
an offstage jazz quartet:
bass, drums, soprano
saxophone and trumpet.
The first movement begins
with a solo by the first
clarinetist which is
interrupted by
intermittent heckling
from his colleagues
leading to a
configuration of large
disparate elements. The
interlude of solo violin
and snare-drum follows
without pause. The second
movement, Prestissimo, is
a display piece of
virtuosity for the entire
orchestra. The third
movement marks a period
of repose and reflection
and calls for some
expressive solos,
particularly by the horn
and alto saxophone. The
fourth movement opens
with a rather lengthy
oboe solo, which is
threatened by large
blocks of sound from the
orchestra, against an
underlying current of
agitated energy in the
piano and percussion.
This leads to a section
in which large orchestral
forces oppose one
another, ultimately
bringing the work to a
climax, if not to a
denouement. Various
thematic elements are
strewn all over the
orchestra, resulting in
the formation of a
general haze of sound. A
transition leads to the
fifth movement without
pause. The musical haze
is pierced gently by the
offstage jazz group as if
they were attempting to
ignore and even dispel
the gloom, but a legato
bell sound enters and
hovers over both the jazz
group and the orchestra,
the latter making
statements of disquieting
finality. Two films were
conceived to accompany
portions of Contextures.
The first done by Herbert
Kosowar, was a
chemography film
(painting directly into
the film using dyes and
various implements) with
fast clips of riot
photographs. The second
was a film collage made
by photographically
abstracting details from
paintings of Reginald
Pollack. The purpose was
to invoke a non-specific
response - as in music -
but at the same time to
define the subject matter
of the piece. The films
were constructed to
correspond with certain
developments in the piece
and in no way affect the
independence and musical
flow of the piece, having
been made after the piece
was completed.
Contextures: Riots -
Decade '60 is dedicated
to Mehta, the Southern
California Symphony
Association and the Los
Angeles Philharmonic
Orchestra. The news of
the assassination of Dr.
Martin Luther King came
the afternoon of the
premiere, April 4, 1968.
That evening's
performances, and also
the succeeding ones, were
dedicated to him and a
special dedication to Dr.
King has been inserted
into he score. All the
music that follows the
jazz group - beginning
with the legato bell
sound playing the first 2
notes to We shall
overcome constitutes a
new ending to commemorate
Dr. King's death.
Orchestra SKU: PO.PEL22 Composed by Douglas Lilburn. Perfect. Score. Prom...(+)
Orchestra
SKU:
PO.PEL22
Composed by
Douglas Lilburn. Perfect.
Score. Promethean
Editions #PEL22.
Published by Promethean
Editions (PO.PEL22).
ISBN
9781877564475.
For
Lilburn's only
full-length choral work,
Prodigal Country, the
composer set three poems
to music – Robin
Hyde's Journey from New
Zealand, Allen Curnow's
New Zealand City and Walt
Whitman's Song of Myself.
Across a single, winding
movement, Prodigal
Country conjures
nostalgia and strangeness
through its sung text and
drifting melodic
contours. The imagery of
the river dominates the
work, which, for Lilburn,
seemed to represent
freedom, while elsewhere
Hyde's evocative
landscape is rugged and
harsh, Curnow's text
emphasises the hesitancy
and unease reminiscent of
the Depression and
Whitman's romanticism is
celebrated through
Lilburn's lyrical,
melodic treatment.
Douglas Lilburn occupies
a pre-eminent position in
New Zealand music, with a
legacy extending well
beyond his compositional
output. As a composer,
teacher and mentor he
presided in innumerable
ways over the artistic
growth of New Zealand
from 1940 onwards. From
the early works redolent
of the influence of
Sibelius and Vaughan
Williams, to the
electro-acoustic pieces
of his later years, his
works have been
instrumental in
establishing a genuine
vernacular in New Zealand
classical music.
