composer
General:
Luc Brewaeys was born on August 25, in 1959 in Mortsel (Belgium) and passed away on December 18, in 2015.
Education: He studied composition with André Laporte in Brussels (Belgium), ...
related works
.., e poi c’era… : Symphony Nº 1 / Luc Brewaeys
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Orchestra
Instruments:
3fl 3ob 3cl 3fg 4h 3trp 3trb tb 4perc hp pf perc
Genre:
Vocal music
Subgenre:
Voice and large ensemble
Instruments:
sopr pic fl 2ob cl cl-b fg 2h 2perc str
Genre:
Vocal music
Subgenre:
Voice and large ensemble; Vocal Ensemble (2-12) and large ensemble
Instruments:
sopr/2sopr 1110 0000 2perc man g hp pf/cemb vl vla vc cb
Genre:
Vocal music
Subgenre:
Voice and large ensemble
Instruments:
sopr 1121 1110 perc hp pf 2vl vla vc cb
composition
Schumann’s Ghosts : for soprano ad lib. and ensemble / Luc Brewaeys
Description:
This small piece was commissioned by the Ictus Ensemble and composed in 1999. It was (the first) part of a cycle of "arrangements/revisits" of the song cycle op. 99 by Robert Schumann, realized by 7 composers, among them Jonathan Harvey. The idea was to keep untouched the vocal line composed by Schumann, while everything alse was totally free to each composer's discretion. I received song n° 1 "Lied des Schmiedes" (Song of the smith), which is very staightforward and harmonically very simple. I just kept the basic harmony and filled it with different moods, at places with many notes. I took a lot of fun realizing this, quoted Mahler (2nd Symphony) and Janacek (Glagolithic Mass) and made a grotesque kind of Foxtrot in the third verse. At the end a cuckoo sings "goodbye", while repeating sharpening by a quarter tone each time and the ensemble desintegrates before playing the conclusive bars which are a perfect mirror of the first two. I intentionally previewed two versions, with or without the voice. The first performance took place in december '99 in Brussels by Mitsuko Shirai with the Ictus Ensemble under George-Elie Octors.