composer
Edward Top was born in Ommen, the Netherlands, in 1972. Top has lived and worked in London, Bangkok, and Rotterdam. He now lives in Vancouver, Canada. Top studied composition and ...
related works
Farewell Songs : for countertenor, Baroque ensemble, and Chinese instruments / Edward Top
Genre:
Vocal music
Subgenre:
Voice and instrument(s)
Scoring:
zzang suona 2erhu saxkbut perc cemb vn vc db
Draaidans : opus 75, voor blazers, slagwerk, piano en contrabas, 1962 / Lex van Delden
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Large ensemble (12 or more players)
Scoring:
0000 5sax 0431 perc xyl pf cb
Kwartet : voor orkest, november 1966-juni 1967 / Tristan Keuris
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Large ensemble (12 or more players)
Scoring:
3330 sax-t 0330 vibr mar 6vc 4cb
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Large ensemble (12 or more players)
Scoring:
2fl 2ob 3cl 2fg 2h 2trp 3trb 4perc 2vl vla vc cb
composition
Most beautiful bird of paradise : for ensemble, 2003 / Edward Top
Description:
Program note (English): The Schönberg Ensemble commissioned a work that should be an opening piece (like an ouverture) with a lyrical character. The title of the work is intended to be metaphorical and should therefore not be interpreted literally. It merely refers to a nostalgic feeling about memories or a close person in a lost or never existed (paradise-like) place. Because of the instrumentation which includes for instance an acoordion and a doublebass clarinet, the work consists of a wide spectrum of soundcolours. It is composed by means of a strictly used ratio of 2:3:6:3:2:6:2 which is applied to the formal structure, to bar-proportions, to contrapuntal proportions and to the rythm. Except for that, the main ratio is also used to generate pitches, where for instance '2' becomes a major second and '3' a minor third. As a result, a quite diatonic language is created with a composing process that reminds us of composers of post-war serialism, but also of the composer after whom the ensemble for
which this work was written was named. Instead of the negative attitude of serialists to avoid consonance, in this piece, consonance is being consciously searched for; the work is comprised of perfect fourths.On one hand these fourths are used like in Schönberg's first Chamber Symphony (meaning in a (horizontal) melodic way or being piled up until a wide chord is achieved), but on the other hand they are part of successive harmonies with which the work gets a massive, primitive, almost middleage-like character. - EDWARD TOP