related works
Athena Keramitis : for contrabass flute and bass clarinet, 1985 / Jan Vriend
Genre:
Chamber music
Subgenre:
Woodwind ensemble (2-12 players)
Scoring:
fl-cb cl-b
Tempore mortalitatis et pestis : for mixed choir / F. Xavier Gelabert i Muntaner
Genre:
Vocal music
Subgenre:
Mixed choir
Scoring:
GK4
Genre:
Vocal music
Subgenre:
Mixed choir
Scoring:
3sopr 3alt 3ten 3bas
Genre:
Vocal music
Subgenre:
Mixed choir
Scoring:
GK4
composition
Du-Dich-Dir : for mixed choir, 1998 / on poems by Paul Celan, Jan Vriend
Other authors:
Celan, Paul
(Text writer/Librettist)
Vriend, Jan
(Composer)
Contains:
Brunnengräber im Wind
Die dir zugewinkte Stille (Mapesbury road)
Ein Blatt
Bergung
Das angebrochene Jahr
Unlesbarheit dieser Welt
Huriges Sonst
Ich höre
Mit der Stimme der Feldmaus
Die nachzustolternde Welt
Eingejännert
Gleichsinnige du (Largo)
Description:
Program note (English): The twelve poems I chose from Schneepart are amongst the most compressed and aphoristic Celan wrote. The metaphors he calls on are austere but intensely evocative. The musical style I designed for Du-Dich-Dir is meant to follow their concise but open structure as closely as possible. I also wanted to stay close to the natural diction of the German language, not unlike Debussy in Pelléas et Mélisande, or like in Gregorian Chant. Celan's poems cry out not to be tampered with and it took me a while to find a manner of articulating the words without distorting their origins. Consequently, I found myself drawn to a modal setting which provides the choir with a firm hold on its tonal orientation through the sometimes complex harmonies. The music always returns to simple cadenzas from which short excursions into complexity are undertaken. A dominant feature in this routine is an echo effect which is achieved by subdividing the whole choir into 2, 3 or 4 choirs which echo each other in
various degrees of delay and rhythmical overlap (dovetailing). This technique also allows for subtle shifts in harmony. - JAN VRIEND