related works
Pentathlon : pour 5 altos et deux groupes de 10 instruments, 1982 / Will Eisma
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Viola and large ensemble
Scoring:
1221 2110 mar hp 3vl 3vc 2cb 5vla-solo
Final Chorus : for baritone and harp / Chiel Meijering; poem by Ramsey Nasr
Genre:
Vocal music
Subgenre:
Voice and instrument(s)
Scoring:
sop hrp
Bird to Chan : for soprano and wind quintet, 2001 / words Charlie Parker (1920-1955), Jacques Bank
Genre:
Vocal music
Subgenre:
Voice and instrument(s)
Scoring:
sopr fl ob cl fg h
Genre:
Vocal music
Subgenre:
Voice and instrument(s)
Scoring:
sopr-m acc vc
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