related works
In Unison : Concerto for two pianos and orchestra / Joey Roukens
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Piano and orchestra
Scoring:
2pf-solo picc 2fl 3ob 2cl cl-b 2fg cfg 4h 3tpt 3trb timp 3perc cel str
Stemming : lied voor tenor, viool en piano / [tekst] Jules Schürmann, Henri Zagwijn
Genre:
Vocal music
Subgenre:
Voice and instrument(s)
Scoring:
ten pf vl
Hommage à Mallarmé : chant, flûte, violoncelle et piano, op. 80, 1980 / Marius Flothuis
Genre:
Vocal music
Subgenre:
Voice and instrument(s)
Scoring:
medium fl pf vc
Genre:
Vocal music
Subgenre:
Voice and instrument(s)
Scoring:
high fl cl pf 2vl vla vc
composition
Angeli : for 5 female voices and 8 celli / Joey Roukens
Other authors:
Roukens, Joey
(Composer)
Description:
Angeli is a piece written for eight cellos and five female voices (2 sopranos, mezzo-soprano and 2 altos), based on two texts (In Paradisum and Absolve Domine) taken from the Latin liturgy. I have always loved classical music of the sacred tradition, whether by Machaut, Josquin, Bach, Cherubini, Bruckner or Stravinsky, and in this piece I’ve tried to write my own kind of ‘sacred music’. Despite the texts coming from the Requiem Mass, it’s not a sad or dark piece. Rather, the character of the music is mostly serene, introverted and hopeful, since I wanted to emphasize the consoling nature of those texts. There is a middle section, though, where the music becomes highly energetic, even euphoric. In this piece I wanted to create a kind of imaginary or dreamed ‘early music’. Thus, the piece is full of echoes of old polyphonic styles and contrapuntal techniques, but at the same time one can clearly hear it's contemporary music, because of the strange, unpredictable harmonic twists and turns one won't find in any early music.