Chamber Music Bass
Clarinet, Celesta, Cello,
Flute, Mezzo-soprano
voice, Oboe, Percussion,
Viola, Violin
SKU:
CF.FE189S
Composed by
Samuel Adler. Large
Score. With Standard
notation. 41 pages.
Duration 10 minutes. Carl
Fischer Music #FE189S.
Published by Carl Fischer
Music (CF.FE189S).
ISBN 9780825877520.
UPC: 798408077525. 9.5 x
13 inches.
Nuptial
Scene was commissioned by
the Jerusalem Symphony
Orchestra in cooperation
with the city of
Jerusalem for the
celebration of the fourth
Testimonium, a festival
to preserve Jewish
heritage. The work was
written in September,
1975, and premiered in
Jerusalem in February,
1976, with the Jerusalem
Symphony, Juan Pablo
Izquierdo conducting, and
Adi Etzion as soloist. It
is dedicated to Recha
Freier, the originator
and prime mover of the
festival. Nuptial Scene
is based on a simple
medieval poem of
prenuptial instruction.
Part of it is in Catalan
and part in Hebrew. The
poem originated in
Catalonia, where a highly
developed Jewish
community existed until
the expulsion of 1492. A
mother is instructing her
daughter in the ways and
strategies of marriage
and rejoicing with a new
song for a new bride.
When I initially planned
the setting for this
lovely poem, I realized
that the age of the
daughter would be about
twelve, for girls in that
historical period were
married at puberty. This
set in motion a scheme
for the composition,
since my oldest daughter
was thirteen at that
time, and I used her
psyche to give me
direction. When a girl of
twelve or thirteen thinks
of a wedding, she is
completely captivated by
its frills -- the dress,
the party, the dancing.
In her imagination, the
reality of a husband or
any kind of domestic
responsibility would be
nonexistent. Therefore,
during the mother's
ardent pleas,
instructions,
admonitions, and even
innuendos, the daughter's
mind wanders and dreams
of dancing. Musically,
the rather straight,
somber rhythm and melody
of the song are
interrupted by an
independent, faster dance
speed of the bongos and
by scattered fragments of
an actual medieval
Spanish-Jewish dance. At
the point where the
mother speaks of sensuous
marital problems, she
herself becomes excited,
and in a nostalgic,
dreamlike spirit -- with
the use of improvised
melodic lines for which
only the gestural
outlines are given -- she
goes into a kind of
rapturous trance. The
daughter, however, seems
unmoved, and she falls
asleep. The mother calms
down, puts her head on
the daughter's shoulder,
and quietly muses, then
also closes her eyes.
--Samuel Adler
.
Nuptial Scene
was commissioned by the
Jerusalem Symphony
Orchestra in cooperation
with the city of
Jerusalem for the
celebration of the fourth
“Testimoniumâ€
, a festival to preserve
Jewish heritage. The
work was written in
September, 1975, and
premiered in Jerusalem in
February, 1976, with the
Jerusalem Symphony, Juan
Pablo Izquierdo
conducting, and Adi
Etzion as
soloist.  It is
dedicated to Recha
Freier, the originator
and prime mover of the
festival.Nuptial Scene is
based on a simple
medieval poem of
prenuptial
instruction. Part of
it is in Catalan and part
in Hebrew. The poem
originated in Catalonia,
where a highly developed
Jewish community existed
until the expulsion of
1492. A mother is
instructing her daughter
in the ways and
strategies of marriage
and rejoicing with a
“new songâ€
for a “new
brideâ€.When I
initially planned the
setting for this lovely
poem, I realized that the
age of the daughter would
be about twelve, for
girls in that historical
period were married at
puberty. This set in
motion a scheme for the
composition, since my
oldest daughter was
thirteen at that time,
and I used her psyche to
give me direction.Â
When a girl of twelve or
thirteen thinks of a
wedding, she is
completely captivated by
its frills — the
dress, the party, the
dancing. In her
imagination, the reality
of a husband or any kind
of domestic
responsibility would be
nonexistent.Â
Therefore, during the
mother’s ardent
pleas, instructions,
admonitions, and even
innuendos, the
daughter’s mind
wanders and dreams of
dancing. Musically,
the rather straight,
somber rhythm and melody
of the song are
interrupted by an
independent, faster dance
speed of the bongos and
by scattered fragments of
an actual medieval
Spanish-Jewish dance.Â
At the point where the
mother speaks of sensuous
marital problems, she
herself becomes excited,
and in a nostalgic,
dreamlike spirit —
with the use of
improvised melodic lines
for which only the
gestural outlines are
given — she goes
into a kind of rapturous
trance. The daughter,
however, seems unmoved,
and she falls asleep.Â
The mother calms down,
puts her head on the
daughter’s
shoulder, and quietly
muses, then also closes
her eyes.—Samuel
Adler .
