related works

Spijkerboor : for ensemble, 2002 / Will Eisma

Genre: Orchestra
Subgenre: Large ensemble (12 or more players)
Scoring: 2010 2sax 1121 perc g g-b pf

Trois sonnets : pour soprano et trio à cordes, 2003 / Bernard van Beurden

Genre: Vocal music
Subgenre: Voice and instrument(s)
Scoring: sopr vl vla vc

Du dehors-du dedans : for mezzo soprano, orchestra and soundtrack / Will Eisma; text by Paul Eluard

Genre: Vocal music
Subgenre: Multimedia and singing voice(s) with or without instrument(s)
Scoring: sopr-m 2221 2200 perc hp str(4.2.2.1.) soundtrack (electronics ad lib.)

Up : for soprano and ensemble, 1994 / text: Chris Moore, Richard Sims

Genre: Vocal music
Subgenre: Voice and instrument(s)
Scoring: sopr fl cl-b vibr hp pf 2vl vla vc cb

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