composer
Joep Straesser was born in Amsterdam on March 11, 1934. He died on September 22, 2004 in Loenersloot.
Joep Straesser studied musicology from 1953 to 1955 at the University of Amsterdam.
related works
Genre:
Chamber music
Subgenre:
Piano
Scoring:
pf
Genre:
Vocal music
Subgenre:
Voice and instrument(s)
Scoring:
sopr-m perc pf(acc/synth) vc
Genre:
Vocal music
Subgenre:
Voice and instrument(s); Vocal Ensemble (2-12) and instrument(s)
Scoring:
sopr/3sopr cl(bh) pf vl(vla) vc
Boogloze Boogpees : for soprano and wind ensemble / Chiel Meijering
Genre:
Vocal music
Subgenre:
Voice and instrument(s)
Scoring:
2fl cl sax-a/sax-s sax-b/sax-a h trp 2trb tb perc pf el.g g-b
composition
All perishes ... : 6 songs for flute and soprano (with some percussion), 1985 / words by Alkaios, Joep Straesser
Other authors:
Alkaios
(librettist)
Description:
Program note (English): All perishes... was composed on text fragments of the Greek poet Alkaios, who lived about 600 BC and who was a contemporary of Sappho.
In the first song that begins with the text "All perishes...", which is partly repeated in the last song, dramatic events on a human level are treated like a counterpoint against the emotionless proceeding of time. Consequently a two-layer structure can be observe here; the developing tension in flute and voice, opposed to the unchanging continuation of a motive in the claves, to be handled by the singer. In the final part, flute and voice join the claves' motif, thus disappearing in time that proceeds unchangingly and leaves everything behind.
The second song is short, violent and eruptive for both flute and voice. It is a drinking song supported by beats on a cymbal with a somewhat theatrical and open end.
The third song with its extremely fragmentary and therefore very mysterious text begins with voice solo, alternated with ringing little bells. The flute re-appears in the middle part with murmuring sound, increasing until it more or less "outplays" the voice.
The fourth song can be regarded as the centre of the cycle. Flute and voice are in perfect harmony, supported by triangle.
The fifth song - the text merely consists of some, nearly totally isolated words -, is a solo for flute, in fact linked to the final part of the third song and in some places coloured by voice and cymbal.
The sixth song sketches with a few words a nature scene, evoking an atmosphere of infinity, which is even reinforced by a partial return of the first song and the claves motif. Time goes by, nature is unrelenting, and the work ends with the wish: "May you find safety..." - JOEP STRAESSER