related works
Allarme enigmatico : for string quartet / Bram Kortekaas
Genre:
Chamber music
Subgenre:
String quartet (2 violins, viola, cello)
Scoring:
2vn vla vc
Variaties : op een Nederlands volkslied, voor orkest en koor / Géza Frid
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Orchestra; Mixed choir and orchestra
Scoring:
(GK4 ad lib.) 3243 sax-a 4331 timp 3perc str
3 Indische nocturnes / Smit Sibinga
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Orchestra
Scoring:
3232 2230 timp hp
Hei, 't was in de mei : scherzo voor orkest / Willem Andriessen
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Orchestra
Scoring:
3222 4331 timp 2perc hp str
composition
L'Élue : Prelude pour orchestre / Bram Kortekaas
Other authors:
Kortekaas, Bram
(Composer)
Description:
L'Élue (The Chosen One) is written as a companion piece to Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring). L'Élue is a prelude not just in the musical sense. Its story precedes the actions the ballet Le Sacre du Printemps.
Stravinsky’s ballet focusses on the collective actions of a pagan tribe. In L'Élue the attention is shifted to the individual within this tribe. The composition explores the feelings of a young woman, who is afraid of becoming the Chosen One for this year’s sacrifice.
Stravinsky’s concept of Day and Night for the first and second part of Le Sacre du Printemps (as described in The Rite of Spring: sketches 1911-1913, page xxi) are mirrored in L'Élue.
The composition starts with an impression of the night (La Nuit). At dawn, the first signs of Spring appear (À l'Aube du Printemps). This is noticed by the young woman, presented by the Alto Flute. The realization that the tribe’s yearly Spring sacrifice approaches fills her with dread. In a premonition, she sees herself as that year’s The Chosen One (La Prémonition de L’Élue). The premonition dissolves, after which Le Sacre du Printemps is performed attacca.