composer
Willem Boogman was born in 1955 and grew up near the river IJssel (Netherlands). He studied Philosophy at the University of Utrecht for a year (1974-1975). Then he went to ...
related works
Genre:
Vocal music
Subgenre:
Mixed choir
Scoring:
4sopr 4alt 4ten 4bas
Invocatio : organo, 1975 / Marius Monnikendam
Genre:
Chamber music
Subgenre:
Organ
Scoring:
org
Genre:
Chamber music
Subgenre:
Organ
Scoring:
org
Intermezzo : orgel, 1967 / Wim Brandse
Genre:
Chamber music
Subgenre:
Organ
Scoring:
org
composition
De dag daagt : for organ / Willem Boogman
Description:
The subject of De dag daagt for (pipe) organ is the morning twilight, during which night turns into day. At that point the sun is still beneath the horizon, and the nearer it approaches the horizon, the lighter the sky becomes, and the stars are extinguished. We are able to discern more and more of our surroundings, which appear like “a ceremony,”as Wislawa Szymborska so beautifully puts it in her poem Early Hour [Wczesna godzina].
De dag daagt consists for the most part of minor triads. These are made up from the notes of the five-part chord which forms the basis for The Hours. (See panel below.) The notes were based on the frequencies of the sun (G, A-flat, D) and of the star HD 129929 (E, E-flat.) From the harmonic series of each of these five notes were derived seven minor triads, making thirty-five in total, including some which overlap.
Naturally enough, in the course of the piece the triads derived from the star descend and those derived from the sun ascend. At first they move in relation to a nocturnal ‘horizon’ (the minor second C-sharp /C: the major and minor third of the triad on A) and later in relation to our daytime horizon which has become visible at daybreak (the note G which is both one of the sun’s notes and the ‘G’ of Gea, the earth.)
Halfway through this process three musical figures appear, each with its own tempo. Without influencing each other, they are repeated six times, each of them getting more and more contours. Furthermore, there is a motif (a descending major third: B-G) which crops up all the time as an untimely nightmare. However, this dissolves when it gradually becomes light. The music concludes at the moment that the first ray of sunshine reaches the earth.
(Translation: Robert Coupe)