related works

Affairs III : for oboe, clarinet and bassoon / Will Eisma

Genre: Chamber music
Subgenre: Woodwind ensemble (2-12 players)
Scoring: ob cl fg

Denkmal an der Grenze des Fruchtlandes : voor sopraan en 9 instrumenten / Alex Manassen

Genre: Vocal music
Subgenre: Voice and instrument(s)
Scoring: sopr pic ob cl fg h pf vl vla vc

Fragments - 20 : for soprano and ensemble / René Samson, text Alissa Valles

Genre: Vocal music
Subgenre: Voice and instrument(s)
Scoring: sopr fl/picc ob/eh cl h fg pf/cel perc

One of these days : for mezzo soprano, alto saxophone and piano / Erik Lotichius; text by C. Eterman

Genre: Vocal music
Subgenre: Voice and instrument(s)
Scoring: m-sopr sax-a pf

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