related works
Affairs III : for oboe, clarinet and bassoon / Will Eisma
Genre:
Chamber music
Subgenre:
Woodwind ensemble (2-12 players)
Scoring:
ob cl fg
...in memory of Ingmar Bergman : for voice, piano, organ and violin / Maxim Shalygin
Genre:
Vocal music
Subgenre:
Voice and instrument(s)
Scoring:
voc vln org pf
Two Wyatt Songs : for soprano, flute, violoncello and piano / Klaus Kuiper; text: Sir Thomas Wyatt
Genre:
Vocal music
Subgenre:
Voice and instrument(s)
Scoring:
sopr fl pf vc
Genre:
Vocal music
Subgenre:
Voice and instrument(s)
Scoring:
sop ob(eh) cemb
composition
Le cheval mort : mezzo-soprano, bass clarinet, piano, percussion: marimba + tamtam, 2 synthesizers, 4 channel tape / text: Aloysius Bertrand, Will Eisma
Author(s):
Bertrand, Aloysius
(Text writer/Librettist)
Eisma, Will
(Composer)
Description:
Program note (English): The compositions Le Gibet and Le Cheval Mort were set to surrealistic poems by Aloysius Bertrand from his collection: Gaspard de la nuit, septième livre, Pièces détachées. The wonderful ambience derived from the poems inspired me to set some of these to music. The text of the poems expresses the dramatic environment of a battlefield and a graveyard. This lends itself easily to natural nocturnal sounds, bloodcurdling whistling and cracking noises. This is, however, something I wanted to avoid. I have tried to create an unreal atmosphere in my music. In Le Cheval Mort the electronics are prominent, especially in the second half of the work. It was written for the music festival in Witten, Germany and received its première there in 1976. - WILL EISMA