#leraauerbach — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #leraauerbach, aggregated by home.social.
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On the cutting edge: Delta Piano Trio plays Lera Auerbach https://theaderks.wordpress.com/2024/02/29/on-the-cutting-edge-delta-piano-trio-plays-lera-auerbach/ #DeltaPianoTrio, #GerardSpronk, #IreneEnzlin, #LeraAuerbach, #MilkingDarkness, #VeraKooper
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#LeraAuerbach *1973
Sonata for cello and piano (2002)
#DariaLutsenko #Cello
#VasilisaBogorodskaya #Piano#contemporarymusic
#womencomposers #musik #music #musique #musica #Auerbach -
#LeraAuerbach *1973
Sonata for cello and piano (2002)
#DariaLutsenko #Cello
#VasilisaBogorodskaya #Piano#contemporarymusic
#womencomposers #musik #music #musique #musica #Auerbach -
#LeraAuerbach *1973
Sonata for cello and piano (2002)
#DariaLutsenko #Cello
#VasilisaBogorodskaya #Piano#contemporarymusic
#womencomposers #musik #music #musique #musica #Auerbach -
#LeraAuerbach *1973
Sonata for cello and piano (2002)
#DariaLutsenko #Cello
#VasilisaBogorodskaya #Piano#contemporarymusic
#womencomposers #musik #music #musique #musica #Auerbach -
#LeraAuerbach *1973
Sonata for cello and piano (2002)
#DariaLutsenko #Cello
#VasilisaBogorodskaya #Piano#contemporarymusic
#womencomposers #musik #music #musique #musica #Auerbach -
#LeraAuerbach *1973
24 Preludes for piano (1999)
#contemporarymusic
#womencomposers #musik #music #musique #musica #Auerbach
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G58ELWYW5-s -
#LeraAuerbach *1973
24 Preludes for piano (1999)
#contemporarymusic
#womencomposers #musik #music #musique #musica #Auerbach
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G58ELWYW5-s -
#LeraAuerbach *1973
24 Preludes for piano (1999)
#contemporarymusic
#womencomposers #musik #music #musique #musica #Auerbach
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G58ELWYW5-s -
#LeraAuerbach *1973
24 Preludes for piano (1999)
#contemporarymusic
#womencomposers #musik #music #musique #musica #Auerbach
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G58ELWYW5-s -
On the cutting edge: Delta Piano Trio plays Lera Auerbach
Lera Auerbach (b. 1973, Chelyabinsk) grew up under Soviet dictatorship, but decided to trade it for the free West during a concert tour of America in 1991; a few months later, the Soviet Union fell apart. Auerbach continued to live in New York, building an increasingly successful career from there.
She is by no means unknown in The Netherlands either, thanks in part to the Friday Evening Concert series of the Dutch broadcasting union and the Netherlands Chamber Choir. Last October her fiftieth birthday was celebrated in The Hague. On that occasion, the Delta Piano Trio released a CD entirely dedicated to her music. The title Milking Darkness is derived from the eponymous piece for solo piano.
Previously, the trio presented her first two Piano Trios on a widely acclaimed album; now they have added the numbers three and four. Auerbach was so impressed with the musicians’ interpretation of her music that she dedicated her Piano Trio No. 3 to them. Not surprising, because whether it is Lonely Suite – Ballet for a Lonely Violinist for solo violin, Milking Darkness for solo piano or the two trios, the musicians play as if their lives depended on it.
For this release, violinist Gerard Spronk, cellist Irene Enzlin and pianist Vera Kooper worked closely with the composer, whose music is, in their words, ‘both raw and human’. During the recordings, moreover, they found that Auerbach ‘never compromises on what she wants to express, so that everything that is in the music is fully realized’.
Both in her fastidiousness and in her music, Auerbach shows herself to be a kindred spirit of Galina Ustvolskaya. Like her former compatriot, she switches effortlessly between extremes of dynamics and lyricism. In Milking Darkness, pianist Vera Kooper now plays loud, ferociously pounding chords in the low registers, then strings sweet garlands of notes in the higher regions.
We recognize this tendency in Piano Trio No. 3, in which obsessively swarming lines from the strings seem to arm wrestle with ferocious clusters from the piano. The one-movement Piano Trio No. 4 is decidedly dark in tone, with desperate pizzicati and glissandi from the strings that attempt to escape from the furiously hammered-out death drive of the piano.
Unlike Ustvolskaya, Auerbach does have some sense of humour. For example, in Piano Trio No. 4, where halfway through a claustrophobic passage the music suddenly turns into a jolly dance. In Three Dances in the Old Style for violin and cello, classic-sounding, innocent melodies and rhythms are ‘gnawed at’ by distorted sounds and disruptive glissandi. Thus, Auberbach pokes fun at our ingrained expectations.
The Delta Piano Trio plays at the cutting edge and the recording technique is outstanding. This release is definitely Grammy-worthy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Saldcyf5YdI&ab_channel=DeltaPianoTrio-Topic
#DeltaPianoTrio #GerardSpronk #IreneEnzlin #LeraAuerbach #MilkingDarkness #VeraKooper
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Last Saturday and Sunday (February 17 and 18) #StéphaneDenève conducted the #StLouisSymphonyOrchestra and Chorus in music by #ArvoPärt, #LeraAuerbach, Wagner, and Carl Orff (the excessively popular "Carmina Burana." Here's my #KDHX review. https://kdhx.org/articles/classical/3368-symphony-review-songs-of-love-and-death-with-den%C3%A8ve-and-the-slso
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Last Saturday and Sunday (February 17 and 18) #StéphaneDenève conducted the #StLouisSymphonyOrchestra and Chorus in music by #ArvoPärt, #LeraAuerbach, Wagner, and Carl Orff (the excessively popular "Carmina Burana." Here's my #KDHX review. https://kdhx.org/articles/classical/3368-symphony-review-songs-of-love-and-death-with-den%C3%A8ve-and-the-slso
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Inspired by the Auerbach Festival in The Hague, last week 😉 here's an attempt at "Boredom"...
https://youtu.be/Q7_-Hb4glkE .
@Curator
#violin #learningviolin #auerbach #ClassicalMusic #modernmusic #contemporarymusic #musician #leraauerbach
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Inspired by the Auerbach Festival in The Hague, last week 😉 here's an attempt at "Boredom"...
https://youtu.be/Q7_-Hb4glkE .
@Curator
#violin #learningviolin #auerbach #ClassicalMusic #modernmusic #contemporarymusic #musician #leraauerbach
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Inspired by the Auerbach Festival in The Hague, last week 😉 here's an attempt at "Boredom"...
https://youtu.be/Q7_-Hb4glkE .
@Curator
#violin #learningviolin #auerbach #ClassicalMusic #modernmusic #contemporarymusic #musician #leraauerbach
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Inspired by the Auerbach Festival in The Hague, last week 😉 here's an attempt at "Boredom"...
https://youtu.be/Q7_-Hb4glkE .
@Curator
#violin #learningviolin #auerbach #ClassicalMusic #modernmusic #contemporarymusic #musician #leraauerbach
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Inspired by the Auerbach Festival in The Hague, last week 😉 here's an attempt at "Boredom"...
https://youtu.be/Q7_-Hb4glkE .
@Curator
#violin #learningviolin #auerbach #ClassicalMusic #modernmusic #contemporarymusic #musician #leraauerbach
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Lera Auerbach on Flights of the Angakok: ‘Our life as a species depends on the heartbeat of the Arctic. If it stops, we’re done for’
For lovers of contemporary music, Lera Auerbach is certainly no stranger to the Netherlands. Her 50th birthday will be celebrated with a grand festival from Oct. 15-22 in Amare, The Hague. She herself conducts the Netherlands Chamber Choir in the world premiere of Flights of the Angakok, a plea for the preservation of the North Pole. This concert however, takes place at Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ in Amsterdam on Oct. 12.
(c) Derek OyenArtistically versatile
I got to know Lera Auerbach (Chelyabinsk, Oct. 21, 1973) in 2011, when her Serenade for a Melancholic Sea for piano and chamber orchestra had its Dutch premiere in the radio series De Vrijdag van Vredenburg. I interviewed her for the live broadcast on Radio 4 (now NPO Klassiek). She told me about her childhood in Chelyabinsk, an industrial town on the border between the Urals and Siberia, and about how during a concert trip to the United States in 1991 she decided to stay in New York, where she still lives today.
This was no easy decision, she acknowledged, but she simply felt she would have more opportunities to spread her wings in the West. She managed to get a scholarship to the renowned Juilliard School of Music, where she studied piano with Joseph Kalichstein and composition with Milton Babbit.
It was a matter of course for Auerbach that she would pursue a career in music: ‘It was never a conscious decision. My mother was a piano teacher and descended from a lineage of musicians; I have been playing the piano for as long as I can remember. As early as the age of four I started making my own pieces and my mother taught me how to capture them in notation. At the same time, I learned to write.’
Her father was a man of letters and so she was instilled with a love of literature and culture from the start. Together with her parents, she visited literary gatherings, museums and concerts, even though to her taste, cultural life in Chelyabinsk was little exciting. ‘Especially in the fields of opera and ballet, the level was not too high, but fortunately there were concerts with such luminaries as Svyatoslav Richter and Gidon Kremer.’
Given her background, it is not suprising that Auerbach would complete a master’s degree in comparative literature at Columbia University in addition to her music studies. She would hereafter develop not only as a pianist, composer and conductor, but also as a successful poet, painter and sculptor. ‘My parents had many art books and I would sometimes stare at one picture for hours, which would put me in a kind of trance; I was also always drawing myself.’ Her visual and literary work have a natural relationship to her music; many of her instrumental works bear poetic subtitles. These different aspects of her artistry are also highlighted in the Lera Auerbach Festival.
Lera Auerbach (c) Raniero Tazzi‘Music kept me whole’
In Chelyabinsk, she attended a school for gifted children, where, in addition to secondary education, she took thorough piano instruction and music theory. At seventeen she made a concert tour to America, and decided to exchange the stifling Soviet climate for the freer West. This was initially a huge culture shock: ‘I didn’t even speak English! From cramped, provincial Chelyabinsk I landed in the bustling multi-million dollar New York. Where everything imaginable was totally different from what I was used to.’ Yet she regained her balance fairly quickly: ‘I discovered that musicians, whether from the East or the West, are not essentially different in their love of music. Music kept me whole.’
Her decision to settle in the United States worked out well. In 2002 she made her debut at Carnegie Hall as a soloist in her own Suite for piano, violin and orchestra, along with Gidon Kremer and his Kremerata Baltica. After this, her career took off. She performed worldwide in prestigious venues and her work was played by orchestras such as New York Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Dresden and Münchner Philharmoniker, with conductors such as Alan Gilbert, Christoph Eschenbach and Neeme Järvi. Soon Auerbach made a name for herself with large-scale works, the first highlight being the full-length ballet The Little Mermaid. She composed this for choreographer John Neubauer, commissioned by the Royal Danish Ballet. After its premiere in 2005, it was performed numerous times and also released on DVD.
Auerbach has since composed an impressive number of works, ranging from large-scale solo concertos, symphonies, choral works and ballets to small-scale chamber music, including 10 string quartets. During the festival, she herself conducts the Residentie Orkest in the Dutch premiere of her Fifth Symphony; before intermission, she leads the musicians through Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 from the piano. Her Fifth Symphony bears the subtitle ‘Paradise Lost’ and consists of four movements. At the center are Eve’s Lament and Adam’s Lament, preceded by a prologue and followed by an epilogue.
The subtitle ‘Paradise Lost’ refers to John Milton’s 1667 poem of the same name, about the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise. Eve’s Lament sounded earlier in the Netherlands in 2019, again in the Friday series of Radio 4, as part of the theme ‘three Russian women composers’. On that occasion, Auerbach told me that the subtitle ‘O Flowers, That Never Will Grow’ – a quote from Paradise Lost – to her symbolizes the oppression of women over the centuries. Thus, in Eve’s Lament, the unearthly voice of the ondes martenot constantly threatens to be smothered by the violence of the orchestra. Piquant detail: during our conversation in 2011, Auerbach somewhat timidly expressed her reservations about being branded a ‘female composer’. These days, fortunately, she is rarely given this label.
Netherlands Chamber Choir
The Auberbach festival opens on Sunday, Oct. 15, with a performance of 24 Preludes for Cello and Piano. Auerbach plays these together with Armenian-American cellist Ani Aznavoorian, with whom she also recorded the cycle on CD. Just as Shostakovich and Bach did before her, the cycle goes through the 24 major and minor keys. The cello often sounds as ethereal as the ondes martenot in Eve’s Lament, but at other times goes wild, as if in protest against her fate. The good listener will also hear some disguised references to Bach’s Das Wohltemperierte Klavier. Auerbach considers Bach a great inspiration: ‘When I’m struggling, I listen to his music, it gives me perspective. What appeals to me most is how Bach manages to strike a perfect balance between intellect and emotion, between head and heart.’
On her birthday, Saturday, Oct. 21, Auerbach will conduct the Netherlands Chamber Choir in Flights of the Angakok for choir and piano, featuring Dutch pianist Yang Yang Cai. In doing so, the composer perpetuates her close relationship with the Nederlands Kamerkoor. This began in 2016, when she wrote the full-length cycle 72 Angels, in splendore lucis, a fascinating setting of the names of 72 angels for choir and saxophone quartet. Audiences and press were deeply impressed by the varied palette of sounds with which Auerbach managed to musically forge the 72 angel names into a single whole. Three years later followed its equally well-received counterpart: Goetia 72, in umbra lucis, a setting of the names of 72 demons for chorus and string quartet.
Flights of the Angakok is the third full-length work Auerbach has composed for the choir. What draws her to this company? ‘The Netherlands Chamber Choir is comprised of highly talented individuals, who as soloists or as a group provide a canvas of endless possibilities.’
Asked whether her experiences with the singers while working on 72 Angels and Goetia 72 have influenced her new piece, she answers with a short, but powerful, ‘Each work is born anew.’ Somewhat apologetically, she adds, ‘I find talking about works I haven’t completed yet challenging, and Flights of the Angakok is still in its early stages.’
Remarkable, given that our interview took place in late July, just a few months before its world premiere. Auerbach nuances: ‘It’s not that I have yet to begin, a piece matures in my head for years and only when I have the outline completely in mind do I put it on paper.’ – She still makes her first sketches by hand, for ‘thus I have a more direct contact with my emotions’.
Bronze by Auerbach ‘Dreaming of Flying’Voyage to Antarctica
Contrary to what some websites announced, Flights of the Angakok does not form a trilogy with the two pieces previously composed for the choir, she stresses: ‘It is much more related to ARCTICA – Symphony no. 4 for piano, choir and orchestra.’ She composed this imposing work in 2019, following a meeting with conservationist Enric Sala, explorer-in-residence at National Geographic. ‘He asked me if I knew a piece of music related to the North Pole, but I couldn’t think of one.’ Then she should write it, Sala decided, and invited her on an expedition to the North Pole. Thanks to him, the National Geographic Society became one of the patrons of the eight-movement symphony ARCTICA. – Six movements are devoted to a flight of the Angakok.
The trip made a crushing impression on Auerbach: ‘The landscape is incredibly beautiful. You can read up on it, but that bears no relation to what you experience when you’re actually there. It’s overwhelming! She gives an example: ‘People often praise the immense silence, but it is never completely quiet, there is only an absence of human-produced sound. That creates a very different sense of being present, being in the moment, you automatically start sharpening all your senses. You hear wind, cracking ice and other sounds that our ears are not accustomed to. Everything is so big and impressive, I felt very small and humble. This makes you look differently at yourself and your surroundings.’
When her trip with National Geographic came to an end, Auerbach decided to explore further on her own: ‘While the expedition was very fascinating, everything is focused on facts and scientific observations. I missed the human, emotional side of the story.’ Thanks to a friend married to an Inuk in Greenland, she was able to learn about the Inuit language and culture. ‘The first thing you notice is that the Inuit speak very quietly and softly. That’s because they really listen to each other. If a conflict does arise, they do not fight it out with violence or through a lawsuit, but come together to find a solution together. Each of the parties involved portrays and ridicules the problem by singing, dancing and drumming, to make the others laugh. The party that portrays the dispute the funniest “wins”; there is no judge, criminal attorney or lawyer involved. Not even the shaman interferes. It was a life-changing experience for me.’
Heart of the world
Another thing that struck her were the fairy tales and myths of arctic culture: ‘In the West it is invariably about good versus bad, but with arctic peoples it is always about the relationship with nature, and how you yourself are part of it. Thus animals and humans are on an equal level. It teems with stories in which people become animals or vice versa.’
Through her contact with the Inuit, she realized how vulnerable these communities are: ‘The cultures of Arctic peoples have evolved over thousands of years and have been shaped by the need to adapt to the unique challenges of living in extreme conditions. Modern, global developments pose a great threat to them.’
Auerbach explains why: ‘These indigenous communities have built deeply symbiotic relationships with the land, the sea and the cyclical rhythms of the seasons. But with climate change dramatically affecting the arctic landscape, these societies are at risk. Thinning sea ice, changing migration patterns of vital species and rising sea levels are compromising their traditional hunting, fishing and animal herding practices. In addition, the growing presence of industrial activity is disrupting the natural environment. Mining, drilling and other industrial activities can cause these communities to be displaced. This simultaneous ecological and sociocultural disruption jeopardizes their survival; it reinforces their inherent vulnerability.’
Sedna, sculpture by Sailko – Own work, CC BY 3.0.In an earlier interview, she called the Arctic the ‘heart of the world’. What does she mean by this? ‘Like the heart in our bodies, the North Pole is a vital organ for the planet. Here begins the heartbeat of our world, the rhythm of climate and seasons. The heart beats, contracts and expands – just like the polar ice. The ebb and flow of the ice, melting and refreezing, forms the pulse of the earth, the rhythm of life on our planet. It echoes in the migration patterns of birds, the hibernation cycles, and even in the broader climate patterns that affect what crops we grow and when they are harvested. When the heart falters, the whole body suffers. Similarly, if the rhythm of the Arctic is disrupted, the effects will be global.’
Her publisher positions Flights of the Angakok as a climate activist work, but Auerbach nuances: ‘We may think we can save nature, but it is actually important to realize that our life as a species depends on the heartbeat of the Arctic. If that stops, we are finished; nature will survive even without us.’
Art offers solution
As she did for ARCTICA, Auerbach writes the libretto for Flights of the Angakok herself. She uses texts from various Inuit languages and dialects and draws on the wealth of stories about Sedna in Inuit mythology. She is particularly drawn to the latter part of the Sedna myth, which emphasizes the importance of art: ‘Sedna is considered the mother of the oceans and ruler of the animals. She was so powerful that even the shamans (Angakok in Inuit) were afraid of her. Human civilization is threatened by Sedna and the Angakok must try to persuade her to spare the earth. But no matter what he does, Sedna will not be swayed. When the Angakok realizes he cannot convince her, he sings one last song, to himself, about the beauty of life.’
‘For only art offers relief – and even that not always.’
This article first appeared in Dutch in De Nieuwe Muze nr. 5, Sept/Oct 2023
#FlightsOfTheAngakok #LeraAuerbach #NetherlandsChamberChoir #NorthPole #Sedna
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"Arcanum" by Kim Kashkashian, Lera Auerbach, Dmitri Shostakovich https://songwhip.com/kim-kashkashian/arcanum
#ClassicalMusic
#WomenComposers
#KimKashkashian
#DmitriShostakovich
#LeraAuerbach -
"Arcanum" by Kim Kashkashian, Lera Auerbach, Dmitri Shostakovich https://songwhip.com/kim-kashkashian/arcanum
#ClassicalMusic
#WomenComposers
#KimKashkashian
#DmitriShostakovich
#LeraAuerbach -
"Arcanum" by Kim Kashkashian, Lera Auerbach, Dmitri Shostakovich https://songwhip.com/kim-kashkashian/arcanum
#ClassicalMusic
#WomenComposers
#KimKashkashian
#DmitriShostakovich
#LeraAuerbach -
"Arcanum" by Kim Kashkashian, Lera Auerbach, Dmitri Shostakovich https://songwhip.com/kim-kashkashian/arcanum
#ClassicalMusic
#WomenComposers
#KimKashkashian
#DmitriShostakovich
#LeraAuerbach -
"Arcanum" by Kim Kashkashian, Lera Auerbach, Dmitri Shostakovich https://songwhip.com/kim-kashkashian/arcanum
#ClassicalMusic
#WomenComposers
#KimKashkashian
#DmitriShostakovich
#LeraAuerbach -
"Hommage à J. S. B.: Works for Solo Violin" by Jonian Ilias Kadesha https://songwhip.com/jonianiliaskadesha/hommage-a-j-s-b-works-for-solo-violin
@classicalmusic
#SoloViolin
#JohannSebastianBach
#GyörgyKurtág
#LeraAuerbach
#HeinrichIgnazFranzvonBiber -
"Hommage à J. S. B.: Works for Solo Violin" by Jonian Ilias Kadesha https://songwhip.com/jonianiliaskadesha/hommage-a-j-s-b-works-for-solo-violin
@classicalmusic
#SoloViolin
#JohannSebastianBach
#GyörgyKurtág
#LeraAuerbach
#HeinrichIgnazFranzvonBiber -
"Hommage à J. S. B.: Works for Solo Violin" by Jonian Ilias Kadesha https://songwhip.com/jonianiliaskadesha/hommage-a-j-s-b-works-for-solo-violin
@classicalmusic
#SoloViolin
#JohannSebastianBach
#GyörgyKurtág
#LeraAuerbach
#HeinrichIgnazFranzvonBiber -
"Hommage à J. S. B.: Works for Solo Violin" by Jonian Ilias Kadesha https://songwhip.com/jonianiliaskadesha/hommage-a-j-s-b-works-for-solo-violin
@classicalmusic
#SoloViolin
#JohannSebastianBach
#GyörgyKurtág
#LeraAuerbach
#HeinrichIgnazFranzvonBiber -
"Hommage à J. S. B.: Works for Solo Violin" by Jonian Ilias Kadesha https://songwhip.com/jonianiliaskadesha/hommage-a-j-s-b-works-for-solo-violin
@classicalmusic
#SoloViolin
#JohannSebastianBach
#GyörgyKurtág
#LeraAuerbach
#HeinrichIgnazFranzvonBiber -
Lera Auerbach: ‘I love the other-worldly sound of the theremin’.
The theremin is an electronic instrument that is played without physical contact. Because of its eerie sound it is often used in soundtracks for horror movies. But classical composer Lera Auerbach also regularly writes for it. Between 1999 and 2017 she composed Ten Preludes for Theremin and Piano. They were premiered in 2019 by Thorwald Jørgensen and pianist Kamilla Bystrova, who have now released them on CD.
In 2005 the Russian-American Lera Auerbach (Chelyabinsk, 1973) used a theremin in her ballet music for The Little Mermaid by choreographer John Neumeier. A year later the instrument resurfaced in her First Symphony and in the symphonic poem Icarus distilled from it. In 2011 she included it in her ballet music Cinderella. With her predilection for the theremin, Auerbach is an exception among her fellow composers.
Lera Auerbach (c) F. ReinholdAuerbach doesn’t remember the exact time and place when she first heard a theremin. ‘Leon Theremin developed this instrument shortly after the First World War. It is the first fully electronic instrument in the world and I have heard recordings both of Theremin himself and the famous thereminist Clara Rockmore. I was immediately captivated by the other-worldly quality of its expression, and the beauty of the human body interacting with a magnetic field to produce sound.’
Although she is not only a composer but also a pianist, Auerbach never considered learning to play the theremin herself. ‘I like to leave that to professionals, but I chose to use it for the first time in my ballet music for The Little Mermaid in 2005. In this fairy-tale by Hans Christian Andersen the mermaid has the most beautiful voice and I was looking for a way to represent it best.’
Leon Theremin playing his instrumentAlmost as a matter of course her choice fell upon the theremin. ‘I was fascinated by its mystical sound and the somewhat magical way in which the instrument is played. It consists of only two antennas connected to oscillators. The player never touches it, but plucks the sounds out of nowhere, as it were, by moving his or her arms. One hand controls the pitch, the other the volume. Wonderful how the instrument is played through the air and music is created by manipulation of electromagnetic fields. I found the transcendental quality of sound perfect to interpret the voice of the mermaid.’
Because of its expressiveness, she then used the instrument in other pieces as well. Contrary to what one might expect, it is not difficult to write for theremin, says Auerbach: ‘I do not approach the instrument other than a human voice or a wind instrument and use standard notation.’
She finished composing Ten Preludes for Theremin and Piano in 2017. Two years later Jørgensen premiered them with Kamilla Bystrova at the Livorno Festival in Italy. Since then they have performed the cycle many times all over the world, and have now included it on their CD Air électrique.
Yet Auerbach did not necessarily write her cycle with Jørgensen in mind, she says. ‘The occasion was a meeting with Viviana Ramos in Cuba, who is very interested in electro-acoustic music. She is involved in the Laboratorio Nacional de Música Electroacústica in Havana. In recent years she has invited foreign thereminists to perform there. I decided to create the Ten Preludes for one of her projects. Thorwald is the first one to perform them in full and also the first to record them. He also played them in Cuba.’
They first met in person in 2016, when Jørgensen performed Icarus with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. A pleasure, as it turned out. Auerbach: ‘Thorwald has performed many of my pieces over the years and I greatly appreciate his craftsmanship. Few musicians fully master the theremin and Thorwald is one of the world’s best. Afterwards he had many questions. This was wonderful, and enlightening for myself as well.’
In the future she hopes to expand her cycle to 24 Preludes, as she previously did for piano solo; violin and piano; viola and piano and the combination of cello and piano. What is her fascination with preludes? Large-scale works such as 72 Angels for choir and saxophone quartet and Goetia 72 for choir and string quartet also consist of a cycle of as many preludes. The first on the names of angels, the second on those of devils. Is there also a story behind the Ten preludes for Theremin and Piano? ‘No’, Auerbach laughs, ‘these are purely abstract’.
I played two preludes in An Ox on the Roof Concertzender in February 2020.
The above is an adaptation of an article I wrote for the Dutch music magazine Luister.
#KamillaBystrova #LeonTheremin #LeraAuerbach #TenPreludesForThereminAndPiano #ThowaldJorgensen
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Lera Auerbach: Lost Paradise Regained
The Russian Lera Auerbach (1973) does not shy away from major challenges. And that is an understatement. Recently she made a big impression with her cycle Goetia 72: in umbra lucis, a setting of the names of 72 demons for the Netherlands Chamber Choir and Quatuor Danel. At the same time a CD appeared with 72 Angels: in splendore lucis, in which she set 72 names of angels for the same choir and the Raschèr Saxophone Quartet.
Her music often has a spiritual element. In addition to the above-mentioned full-length choral cycles she composed impressive works such as Dialogues on Stabat Mater (2005); the large-scale Requiem: Ode to Peace (2012) and the forty-minute Violin Concerto De profundis (2015).
Auerbach regularly spices up her music with electronic instruments such as the theremin and the ondes martenot. Both were developed in the 1920s and produce an otherworldly sound midway between a human voice, a singing saw and a violin. Thus making it the ideal musical representative of her often esoteric subject matter.
In 2011 Auerbach made her debut in the Friday concert series with ‘ordinary’ instruments when the Radio Chamber Orchestra played her Serenade for a Melancholic Sea for violin, piano, cello and string orchestra. In 2019 she composed Evas Klage, a joint commission from RSO Wien, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and AVROTROS Vrijdagconcert. This will have its Dutch premiere on 28 February with the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by their brand new chief Karina Canellakis. The previous night they will present a foretaste in the series Pieces of Tomorrow.
In Evas Klage, too, the ondes martenot play a major role. A thunderous orchestral introduction is succeeded by softly wailing sounds, like the weeping of a desperate ghost. The wistfully descending and ascending lines of the ondes martenot run like a thread through the piece. You automatically associate this with the voice of Eva, who is lamenting her fate. Regularly the orchestra tries to silence the fragile whimpering with ferocious outbursts of brass and percussion.
The sometimes violent atmosphere is explained by the subtitle: O Blumen, die niemals blühen werden. Auerbach quotes this verse from Paradise Lost by John Milton in German, because the first performance took place in Vienna. For the composer, this sentence symbolises the oppression of women throughout the centuries. Rarely, if ever, did they have the opportunity to develop their talents: their voices were stifled.
In Evas Klage, the ondes martenot – Eve’s voice – is continuously in danger of going under. But towards the end her singing ascends to heaven, leaving the orchestra behind on earth. Yet there is not only doom and gloom, for Auerbach weaves fragments of early music through her score. Both reference Henry Purcell.
Quite in the beginning we hear a quotation of his witty song What Can We Poor Females Do? To which an answer comes in the form of the well-known Music for a While. The message: the ladies may enjoy themselves with music. – Be it only as a momentary diversion.
The ethereal finale leaves no doubt that this Eve won’t be bullied into making ‘music for a while’. She brilliantly overcomes all obstacles, as is powerfully illustrated by a constantly rising melodic line at the end. ‘Perhaps the answer is to rise, to stay above, to remain above it all’ writes Auerbach. Thus we may keep a glimpse of the lost paradise, ‘as the inner light of childhood when the world was still undefined and everything was possible’.
Eve frees herself from her subordinate place ‘in umbra lucis’ – in the shadow of light, and self-confidently chooses a place ‘in splendore lucis’ – in bright light. In doing so she turns her lost paradise into a paradise regained.
The reviews of the world premiere in Vienna in October 2019 were unanimously laudatory. ‘The piece has a motivic richness that is both intellectually and sensually accessible’, opined the Wiener Zeitung. I wholeheartedly agree. – Hope to see you at the concert!
#AVROTROSVrijdagconcert #JohnMilton #KarinaCanellakis #LeraAuerbach #ParadiseLost #PiecesOfTomorrow #RadioFilharmonischOrkest
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‘We know exactly what the right decision is, but often choose against our intuition’ – Lera Auerbach sets 72 demons to music
Lera Auerbach (photo F. Reinhold)
In 2016, the Russian-American Lera Auerbach (1973) stunned both audience and press with her full-length cycle 72 Angels for choir and saxophone quartet. Three years later she composed a sequel, Goetia 72, dedicated to as many demons. This time the choir is accompanied by a string quartet.
The piece was premiered in Berlin in May 2019, by RIAS Chamber Choir and Michelangelo String Quartet. On 30 January co-commissioner Netherlands Kamerkoor and Quatuor Danèl will perform Goetia 72 in the Amsterdam Muziekgebouw under the baton of Peter Dijkstra. The concert forms part of the second edition of the String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam, and will then tour through Holland.
Auerbach definitely has guts. You must both be ‘a little crazy and have a touch of genius’ to write an evening-long choral work on a text limited to a list of 72 names of angels’, as a reviewer wrote after the world premiere in 2016. Perhaps you have to be even crazier to devote a cycle to as many demons, but Auerbach has unprecedented determination.
No light without shadow
‘I made the first sketches for 72 Angels more than twenty years ago, but no conductor wanted to perform the cycle’, she says. ‘Therefore it seemed even more unrealistic to create a piece about 72 demons, but one cannot have light without shadow, shadows are caused by light.’ Auerbach here refers to the subtitles of her two compositions. The angels bathe ‘in splendore lucis’ (in bright light), the demons dwell ‘in umbra lucis’ (the shadow of light).
For her first cycle she picked the names of the angels from the Bible book of Exodus, this time she consulted the Ars u Goetia. This is the first part of The Key of Solomon, an anonymous collection of magical practices written in the 17th century. It mentions the names of the 72 demons that King Solomon is said to have locked in a sealed vessel. ‘That book was only the departure point for the sourcing of the names’, Auerbach stresses. ‘I have consulted countless other sources, for each name has multiple variants in different esoteric texts. I researched all that I found available.’
Pagan deities neither ‘evil’ nor ‘good’
She discovered that many names originated from pagan deities. ‘They weren’t just good or bad, they were passionate, jealous creatures not much different from humans. – Or angels. Initially, the two concepts were used interchangeably. It was only with the rise of Christianity and other monotheistic religions that the pagan gods were labelled ‘evil’. From then on, the word ‘angel’ was used for spiritual beings who served the god of Abraham; the name ‘demon’ became associated with the other spirits and the fallen angels.’
Auerbach leaves it open how Solomon himself viewed the demons: ‘No one can know that. He dominated them with the help of a magic ring he had received from the archangel Michael; thus they helped him to build the temple of Jerusalem. Personally, I think that Solomon considered angels and demons simply as energies, vibrations, wavelengths that he could connect. – Perhaps the djinns from Islamic folklore are a better analogy with our time, because they are not intrinsically good or bad either.’
In essence, the three monotheistic religions have the same roots, says Auerbach. ‘Judaism, Christianity and Islam are connected from within. That is why it is ironic that in the course of history so much blood has been shed “in the name of God”. And just as light cannot do without shadow and vice versa, angels and demons are two sides of the same coin. In essence, they are the same, just as in the Ancient Greeks’ view: they are not opposites but messengers, communicators, representations of energies.’
Demons disturb our moral compass
Nevertheless Auerbach does discern a difference: ‘Angels are more distant, demons are closer to us, tempting and seducing us. They toy with our idealism, our desires. They play on the strings of our human emotions, which is why I chose a string quartet in Goetia 72. The four strings act as a partner to the choir and as guide in this journey through 72 spirits. In modern terms you could say that demons are a human “creation”. They represent and nourish our fears, paranoia, lust for power, phobias, herd-mentality, possessiveness and greed.’
‘They love noise and loudspeakers, because in silence it is easier to hear the quiet inner voice of our moral compass – somewhere in our hearts the voice of an angel always sounds. We know exactly what the right decision is, but we often choose a different one, against our intuition. Demons play on our vanity and desires: they seduce us to long for more possessions, more fame, more power, more beauty, more righteousness.’
‘They are us, like a mirror: ‘A mirror that reflects and amplifies our passions the very moment they take possession of us. And angels? They are the names of God, the army of God, the warriors, the righteous ones. Precisely for this reason they may fall, for righteousness leads to arrogance and vanity, hence fallen angels – demons. “Vanity, absolutely my favourite sin”, says the Devil in The Devil’s Advocate.
Psalm as talisman
Unlike in 72 Angels, Goetia 72 does not consist exclusively of an enumeration of names, the composition is larded with verses from Psalm 90 (91). ‘This psalm has a history of being used as a talisman, it was traditionally recited when working with demons. I made a setting in ancient Greek and place those verses at three structural points, each after 24 names. This reinforces their protective intention. By the way, this arrangement was not even my intention, the piece itself asked for it, it has grown organically this way.’
In 2016 the composer described 72 Angels as ‘a long, intense prayer, full of passion and hope’. How does she see Goetia 72? ‘It is a kind of ritual, going back to pre-Christian times, before the rise of monotheism. A ritual in which we face ourselves.’ She plays with the fatal temptation that emanates from demons: ‘I give them what they want, not what they need. Then I show them the outcome of their desires. – And then I take everything away from them.’
Auerbach is not only a composer, conductor, pianist and writer, but also a visual artist and sculptor. Do these capacities help her shape her music? ‘Yes. For instance, I have an audio-visual installation called Trapped Angel that could be presented together with 72 Angels and Goetia.’
‘There is also a large immersive installation I would like to create with 72 Angels, and I am in the process of developing various visual art works related to both cycles. Being a conductor allows me to shape performances as close as possible to my vision for interpreting this diptych. Conducting also helps me to gain deeper understanding of the performers and audience perspectives.’
She doesn’t have a favourite demon: ‘I wouldn’t dare. Otherwise the other demons would get jealous.’
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Fifty years of Raschèr Saxophone Quartet: ‘Stay upright!’
On 22 September the Raschèr Saxophone Quartet will celebrate its fiftieth anniversary with a gala concert in Freiburg. This is a sample of their versatility, with works by such diverse composers as Bach, Xenakis and Auerbach, and with the collaboration of a choir and a chamber orchestra. The concert is dedicated to baritone saxophonist Kenneth Coon, who died last May. I interviewed the Dutch tenor saxophonist Andreas van Zoelen, who joined the quartet five years ago.
Raschèr Quartet in 2014: Elliott Riley, Christine Rall, Kenneth Coon, Andreas van Zoelen (c) Felix BroedeWish come true
In 1969 alto saxophonist Sigurd Raschèr (1907-2001) ended his solo career and founded the saxophone quartet named after him. Although the New York Saxophone Quartet Club was already active in the nineteenth century (1873-1885), this type of ensemble was far from self-evident. For a long time the instrument was mainly associated with jazz and Raschèr had fought tirelessly for acceptance of the saxophone in the classical music world. With the founding of his quartet a long cherished wish came true.
Members of the first hour were Raschèr’s daughter Carina (soprano saxophone) and two of his students: Bruce Weinberger, (tenor) and Linda Bangs (baritone). The ensemble quickly gained fame through its adventurous programming and collaborations with orchestras and even choirs. Once again, Raschèr was doing pioneering work. As the repertoire for the saxophone quartet consisted mainly of arrangements, he bombarded friendly composers with requests for new pieces.
Raschèr Quartet in 1977: Linda Bangs, Bruce Weinberger, Carina Raschèr, Sigurd Raschèr (c) Hugo KocherNew ensemble, new repertoire
‘Now there are about four hundred of them,’ says Andreas van Zoelen, who succeeded Bruce Weinberger as tenor saxophonist in 2014. Many of these compositions are now among the cornerstones of the repertoire, such as XAS by Iannis Xenakis and the quartets by Tristan Keuris and Philip Glass. He considers it a great honour to follow in the footsteps of the last co-founder: ‘Bruce was full of ideas and constantly came up with different repertoire combinations, for which he succeeded to engage such greats as Luciano Berio’.
For Van Zoelen, these interrelationships largely determine the attraction of the Raschèr. ‘Recently we played Music for Saxophones by Tristan Keuris with the Badische Staatskapelle. In the combination of quartet and orchestra I find this piece the absolute highlight, because of its incredible eloquence, depth and colour. But also Water Music by Brett Dean is fantastic, because Dean asks us to explore our limits.’
Exploring boundaries
The latter is also an essential characteristic of the quartet: ‘Thanks to Adolphe Sax’ design strategy, our instrument has an immense range of possibilities. We see it as our task to fully explore this, together with the composer. As performers, we are the connection between the spiritual world in which he or she conceives the work and the audience, who get to experience a completely new landscape of sounds and colours. However, we are averse to empty virtuoso display, it is always about the content, which is why we choose our composers carefully.
This certainly applies to the Russian-American Lera Auerbach (1973), who in 2016 composed the full-length 72 Angels for the Raschèr and the Nederlands Kamerkoor. Van Zoelen: ‘The premiere in Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ in Amsterdam was one of the most profound experiences of my career. We have performed the piece many times since then and recorded it on CD last February.’
He finds it difficult to explain what precisely moves him so deeply and rather quotes Auerbach’s words from an interview I had with her for this blog. ‘She called it “a long, intense prayer of passion and hope” and said that “a saxophone quartet can ignite the fire, but at the same time can transcend its flame”. For me, that’s exactly what lies at the heart of this work.’
Distinctive sound
In addition to the special repertoire, Van Zoelen also praises the distinctive sound of the Raschèr. ‘We play on Buescher saxophones from the 1930s. Characteristic is the mouthpiece which, with its so-called ‘large chamber’, differs substantially from modern examples. In combination with the specific construction of these old instruments, this results in a sound that is faithful to the original intentions of Adolphe Sax.’
‘With his self-designed instrument Sax wanted to bridge the gap between the strings and wind instruments of a symphony orchestra, but also between the wood and brass instruments of a military marching band. This chameleonic character explains its overwhelming richness of colour.’
For Van Zoelen this pertains especially to the altissimo register, in which tones are played that are considerably higher than would be possible with the usual grip technique. ‘These are realized by a form of overblowing, using the natural overtones of the tube,’ he explains. ‘Sigurd Raschèr, pioneer of the classical saxophone and founder of our quartet, continued to elaborate on this technique, but even Adolphe Sax himself already managed to conjure up almost four octaves from his instrument!’
Demise of Kenneth Coon
The fiftieth anniversary is overshadowed by the absence of baritone saxophonist Kenneth Coon (1967-2019), who succumbed to cancer after months of struggle. However, there is no question of stopping, says Van Zoelen. ‘When we recorded the CD with 72 Angels, Ken was already seriously ill, and we asked Oscar Trompenaars to play the baritone part.’
All planned concerts were performed with various replacements, for the three musicians didn’t want to make a hasty decision about Coon’s succession. ‘It was all too fresh for that’, says Van Zoelen, ‘but after ample consideration we have decided to invite Oscar to take his place in our quartet. – Which will be fifty percent Dutch from now on.’
Coon had emphatically asked his colleagues to continue playing after his death. ‘The last thing he said to me was: “Stay upright!”. – We have taken this to heart, and will dedicate our new CD to honour his memory.’
#AndreasVanZoelen #KennethCoon #LeraAuerbach #NederlandsKamerkoor #OscarTrompenaars #RaschèrSaxophoneQuartet
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Holländer im Abgeordentenhaus: ‘Frauen wollen überwältigt werden’
Am 15. März stimmte ein beträchtlicher Teil der Holländer für Thierry Baudet, das Äquivalent von Grab ‘m by the pussy. Baudet meint: ‘Frauen wollen überwältigt werden’, trotzdem gewann er im Wahlkampf 2 Plätze im Abgeordnetenhaus. – Ein schwarzer Tag für die Emanzipation.
Darum in diesem ‘Frauenmonat’ heute die Wiederveröffentlichung einer Kolumne die ich 2010 schrieb für Christel Nies. Sie leitet seit 1990 die Konzertreihe Komponistinnen und Ihr Werk in Kassel. Leider ist der Kampf um die Anerkennung von weiblichen Schöpfer immer noch aktuell. Vielleicht sogar aktueller denn je.
“Die von den Frauen”
Erfahrungen der niederländischen Musikjournalistin Thea Derks im Kampf für die Musik von Frauen. Erschienen in Christel Nies: ‘Entdeckt und aufgeführt’, 2010.
Ich wuchs auf in einem Dorf in der Nähe von Venlo, wo es ein reges Musikleben gab. Mein Vater spielte Tuba im lokalen Bläserkorps, und ich war begeistert von den schönen Klängen die er aus seinem Instrument hervorzauberte: das wollte ich auch!
Papa lehrte mich die Tuba blasen und Noten lesen: ‘do, re, mi’ und ‘fa, so, la’. Als ich gut genug war, um dem Musikverein beizutreten, gab es plötzlich ein Problem: Ich war ein Mädchen, und nach einem ungeschriebenen Gesetz waren weibliche Mitglieder im Verein nicht zugelassen – obwohl er sich doch mit dem Namen ‘Sub Matris Tutela’ (Unter Mutters Schutz) schmückte .
Als ich später Musikwissenschaft studierte, sprachen die Professoren von Leoninus und Perotinus, von Bach und Händel, von Mozart und Beethoven, von Stravinsky und Bartók. Wenn ich danach fragte, ob es unter den Komponisten keine Frauen gäbe, lächelten sie mitleidig und betonten, an der Uni beschäftige man sich nur mit seriösen Sachen. Auch in den Konzerten, die ich besuchte, hörte ich fast ausschließlich Musik von Männern – nur in der Neue Musik-Szene gab es ab und zu Werke von Ustwolskaja und Gubaidulina, von Saariaho und Chin.
Nach meinem Studium bekam ich einen Job bei Radio 4, dem holländischen Sender für klassische Musik. Ich produzierte viele Themenprogramme, u.a. eine Reihe über Komponistinnen. – Alsbald nannte man mich ‘Die van de vrouwen’ (‘Die von den Frauen’).
Dachte ich anfangs man vernachlässige die Komponistinnen einfach aus Versehen, so wurde mir im Laufe der Zeit klar, dass es gegenüber dem Schaffen von Frauen tief gewurzelten Vorurteile gibt. Wenn ein junger Komponist ein mieses Stück schreibt, heißt es, er sei noch jung und könne sich weiter entwickeln. Eine junge Komponistin hingegen bekommt selten eine zweite Chance.
Wie unausrottbar diese Vorurteile sind, wurde mir peinlich bewusst, als ich mich für eine Aufführung der Oper The Wreckers von Ethel Smyth einsetzte. Jeder, dem ich die Oper vorspielte, war begeistert von der schönen und kraftvollen Musik, aber alle meinten, Smyth hätte sich zu stark von Brittens Peter Grimes beeinflussen lassen.
Als ich darauf hinwies, dass Britten noch gar nicht geboren war als Smyth ihr Werk 1906 komponierte, verstummten meine Gesprächspartner erstaunt. – Die Oper aber wurde nicht aufgeführt. Obwohl man oftmals eine wiedergefundene, aber zweitrangige Komposition eines Mannes ankündigt als ‘Entdeckung des Jahrhunderts’.
Auch während des jährlichen Festivals niederländischer Musik wurden kaum Kompositionen von Frauen aufgeführt, weshalb ich diese Veranstaltung immer als die ‘Niederländischen Männertage’ bezeichnet habe. Geholfen hat es wenig, aber mangels Erfolg werden diese ‘Männertage’ seit 2010 nicht mehr veranstaltet.
Sogar der nach der Komponistin Henriette Bosmans benannte Wettbewerb für junge Talente wurde bisher noch nie von einer Frau gewonnen. Nachdem ich dies in einer Kolumne bemängelt hatte, wurden wenigstens einige Frauen in die Jury aufgenommen. Aber erst als später auch ein Publikumspreis eingeführt wurde, gewann endlich mal eine Komponistin: Claudia Rumondor. Glücklicherweise scheinen die Zuhörer weniger Vorbehalte zu haben als die Profis!
Es stimmt traurig, dass man auch im 21en Jahrhundert noch für die Musik von Komponistinnen kämpfen muss. Sogar weibliche Veranstalter programmieren sehr selten Werke von Frauen, und das, obwohl ich sie seit Jahren regelrecht ‘bombardiere’ mit Tipps und Aufnahmen. Zuweilen geschieht dann doch etwas, und so gibt es einige wenige Lichtblicke.
Hatte es das Festival Alte Musik Utrecht 2009 noch versäumt, auch nur ein einziges Stück von Fanny Mendelssohn zu präsentieren im Rahmen eines Konzertes das dem Umfeld Felix Mendelssohn gewidmet war, so bringt das Festival im Jahr 2010 nach meinen Protesten Musik von Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre zu Gehör.
Außerdem widmet die wöchentliche Konzertreihe ‘Vrijdag van Vredenburg’ von Radio 4 in der Saison 2010-11 gleich vier russischen Komponistinnen eine Reihe: Victoria Borisova-Ollas, Elena Kats-Chernin, Lera Auerbach und Sofia Gubaidulina. Neben einem Stück der jeweiligen Komponistin finden sich auch Werke von Komponisten.
Kleine Erfolge, welche ‘Die von den Frauen’ auch weiter zu erkämpfen erhofft.
#ChristelNiew #ElenaKatsChernin #ElisabethJacquetDeLaGuerre #FannyMendelssohn #LeraAuerbach #SofiaGubaidulina #VictoriaBorisovaOllas
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Composer Lera Auerbach on 72 Angels: ‘The sounds decide’
On 3 November 2016 the Netherlands Chamber Choir and Raschèr Saxophone Quartet will première Lera Auerbach’s latest work: 72 Angels, in splendore lucis in Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ Amsterdam.
Auerbach won numerous awards and has made a name for herself with large-scale works. An early success was her ballet The Little Mermaid, which she created with the choreographer John Neubauer for the Royal Danish Ballet in 2005.
Since the Russian-American Lera Auerbach (Chelyabinsk, 1973) made her debut in Carnegie Hall in 2002, her career has soared. She played her own Suite for piano, violin and orchestra with Gidon Kremer and his Kremerata Baltica, and performed in prestigious halls in both East and West.
She wrote many concertos and other orchestral works, composed two opera’s, three requiems, and was highly lauded for the oratorio Praise of Peace that she wrote for the Verbier Festival in 2013. Her music has a transcendental quality that speaks to the heart.
She based her expansive cycle 72 Angels, in splendire lucis on the Hebrew names of the angels, as derived from the book of Exodus. This composition is very important to her, and she has been reluctant to talk about it in public. For this one occasion she agreed to make an exception:
Nederlands Kamerkoor (c) SchreursComposer in the shadow
‘In general, I am avoiding giving interviews. I feel that a composer needs to remain in the shadows in order not to betray his or her work. This is especially important with 72 Angels, given its unusual nature. I would appreciate for you to mention this, since I have declined all other interviews about this work. I am making an exception in your case because of our connection from the past and because I felt that your questions were not intrusive in an unwelcoming way.’*
When and why did you decide to write a work on 72 angels?
The concept for this work preoccupied me for over twenty years. I envisioned it as a choral piece from the start but decided to include a saxophone quartet after my first collaboration with the Raschèr Saxophone Quartet. They premièred my Gallows Songs in 2013 together with the women of the WDR Radio Choir.
I feel the sound of the saxophone is limitless in colour and expression. It can roar like a wild animal and sound like a shofar. Four of them together may evoke the sound of powerful trumpets, delicate woodwinds or even of a mystical glass harmonica.
How have you shaped your composition?
In essence, 72 Angels is a long, intense prayer, full of passion and hope. It is structured in the form of 72 prelude-evocations and an epilogue: ‘Amen’. There is no text other than the names of the angels, which I derived through an arcane interpretation of Exodus 14:19-21. Each prelude is a meditation on one name. Every angel is different and has his own personality both spiritually and musically.
The 72 preludes are interconnected, and performed without pauses, creating a whole continuous composition of some 80 minutes, rather than 72 separate short pieces. Structurally, the work divides into two parts at Prelude 36 and in three sections at preludes 24 and 48, representing unity and division: Two in One (Duality) and Three in One (Trinity.) At these demarcation points, all of the previously introduced names of angels are recited.
The piece concludes with ‘Amen’, a quiet postlude-meditation. It is the coda of the work and is built upon the overtone series, which is the origin of all sound.
Raschèr Saxophone QuartetHow do the saxophone quartet and the choir interact?
Sometimes the quartet leads the choir, at other times it blends and supports it, or is in dialogue with the voices. The interaction between the four players themselves is comparable to that in a string quartet. The sounds decide what happens musically, I just follow.
In your score you write that ‘a saxophone quartet can ignite the fire while transcending its burn.’ How are we to understand this?
Worthwhile art, be it music or literature or painting, leaves burning marks in our memory. It cannot be forgotten, it ignites passion, reaches the deepest roots and helps to transcend limitations. A saxophone quartet, with its wide range of colour and dynamics, is capable of inspiring this.
Are all angels good spirits in your view? Or are there also dark angels, fiery angels, perhaps even frightening ones?
As with my Requiem – Ode to Peace, the intent for 72 Angels is to focus on that which is shared among different cultures in their religious, spiritual, esoteric and mythological traditions. I wish to put emphasis on that which unites us through shared connections. These 72 evocations celebrate all angels in all their multi-faceted variations.
Of course anything in excess becomes its opposite. Shadows are caused by light. I am a writer, I believe in the power of words. Since I am also a composer, I believe in the power of words as sounds, in the power of music. Music can bypass consciousness and the limitations of the language, it can move us through emotion and emphasise that which makes us human.
Is your new work closer to Requiem – Ode to Peace or to Gallows Songs?
There is no similar work in my catalogue. It connects to the Requiem – Ode to Peace as both works stress unity among different belief systems. It connects to the Gallows Songs as it is for a choir and saxophone quartet. In all other ways, it is entirely different from them as well as from all other compositions I have written.
My wish is for each listener and performer to embrace his or her personal interpretation of 72 Angels.
* We discussed her development and music extensively for Radio 4, the Dutch classical radio station in 2011. The Dutch Radio Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra performed her Serenade for a Melancholic Sea.
72 Angels, in splendore lucis; Dutch Chamber Choir and Raschèr Saxophone Quartet under the baton of Peter Dijkstra. In 2020 it was released on cd.
With Lera Auerbach after world première 72 Angels in Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ, 3 November 2016#72Angels #LeraAuerbach #MuziekgebouwAanTIJ #NederlandsKamerkoor #RaschèrSaxophoneQuartet #TheaDerks
