Short Story

The Dreamers - A Gothic Tale for Horn Trio by Niels Marthinsen. Programme note: The Dreamers for horn violin and piano is the sixth of a series of seven compositions named after Karen Blixen's collection of short stories Seven Gothic Tales. My musical gothic tales are written for very different ensembles - THE SUPPER AT ELSINORE is a saxophone quartet THE OLD CHEVALIER is for bass trombone and piano THE MONKEY is a chamber orchestra work - but they all share musical material in a criss-cross of contextual references reminiscent of Blixen's narrative complexity: Themes and motivs from one pieceappear in others in new and surprising shapes and combinations. Karen Blixen's THE DREAMERS has the most complex narrative structure of all her seven gothic tales. The story is made up of three tales with different narrators but with the same principal caracter in various disguises all three imbedded within a fourth tale that serves as a framework for the entire short story.The main story line unravels the life of a famous opera diva who looses her voice during a terrible fire. Before this her life was perpetual bliss and the tragedy drives her into assuming different personality guises in order to escape reality.Toward the end she is confronted with her true identity and dies.THE DREAMERS isn't 'about' anything. The music is inspired by the artistic content of Blixen's short story - it's emotionalism dramatic construction atmosphere period and settings - but unfolds in time and musical space in ways that are completely independent of the story's narrative progression...except one might say that the three players try their best to either catch or escape each other and that when they finally meet it happens abruptly even tragically - and only barely provides a little consolation.

With a libretto written by Weir herself based on the cryptic supernatural short story Der Blonde Eckbert by Ludwig Tieck. This one act pocket version of the opera makes use of a Chamber group rather thana full Orchestra and omits the chorus.'Eckbert and his wife Berthe live in seclusion in the Harz Moutains. One stormy night Eckbert's friend Walther arrives and to while away the time Berthe tells him her lifestory.Walther mysteriously knows a great deal about Berthe' s early life and Eckbert's suspicions grow eventually leading him to murder Walther during a hunting expediton.Consumed by terror and suspicion Eckbert retreats into seclusion and revisits the fairy-tale scenes of Berthe's childhood accompanied by a magical singing bird. He encounters the old woman who raised Berthe and at last learns the terrible truth about Walther Berthe and himself.' - Judith Weir

For King And Country is part of a larger work entitled 'The Angel Of Mons' by composer Patrick Hawes dedicated to the memory of the British soldiers who Hawes believes witnessed an 'angel' during a battle in World War One. This is the Vocal Score arranged for SATB Chorus and Piano Accompaniment. This piece with a libretto by his brother Andrew Hawes was premiered in the latter's own church on the centenary of the date the 'angel' sighting was said to have occurred.  The inspiration comes from a mythical story around the Battle of Mons during World War One where a group ofsoldiers supposedly received divine help from 'angels'. The story arose from a fictional short story by a writer that came to be known as fact despite the author's desperate please otherwise. The music itself is beautiful perfectly capturing the crisis of conscience and cognitive dissonance that the soldiers must have experienced being told that they were fighting for King and country yet at the same time being terrified of their own lives. 

This is the Full Score for composer Patrick Hawes' beautiful work The Angel Of Mons featuring all six movements. This work is arranged for solo Soprano SATB Chorus Harp and Strings and was composed in memory of the British soldiers who supposedly witnessed an apparition of an angel during World War I. The premiere of The Angel Of Mons was on 23rd August 2014 in St Michael and All Angels Church Edenham Lincolnshire and conducted by Patrick Hawes himself on the exact centenary of the apparition of the angel. The inspiration comes from a mythical story around the Battle of Monsduring World War One where a group of soldiers supposedly received divine help from 'angels'. The story arose from a fictional short story by a writer that came to be known as fact despite the author's desperate pleas otherwise. The work lasts approximately 25 minutes and therefore would make for a hugely enjoyable concert especially a World War I memorial concert.  The Vocal Score can also be purchased separately  here.

Pastorale (from Babettes Gæstebud / Babettes Feast) - Version for String Orchestra (the original version from 1997 is for string trio). Parts are for hire: hire@ewh.dk Preface / Programme Note My PASTORALE is melodically utterly simple almost 'ear-catching'. The simplicity stems frommy hymn-tune JERUSALEM the theme of which permeates my incidental music for Oscar winning film (Best Foreign Film.1987) BABETTE' S FEAST by Danish director Gabriel Axel. The film is based on a short story by another reknown Dane Karen Blixen; it is the story of two sisters who are members of a very Puritancongregation but deceide to have a big feast of earthly (gastronomic) delights; the PASTORALE is heard during the sumptuous meal. Below the song-like surface of my PASTORALE the metrical implications arerather ambiguous; the changes between marked and un-marked beats forces the ear to perceive a phrase to beo nthe beat at one moment and off the beat at the next moment. In this way the simple lines of lyrical pastoral serenity conjure the listener to be lulled into an artificial Paradise which is exactly the mood ofthe guests at the banquet the feast in the central scene ofthe movie. The original PASTORALE is scored for string trio; the present version for string orchestra came along in 1988 and was premiered in New York City that year. (Per Nørgård 1999)

For Narrator Children's Choir And Instrumental Accompaniment (Piano Version)-Following on the success of her two operatic works for children and teens – Douce et Barbe Bleue Les Fables Enchantées Little Thummie and Cendrillon (based on Perrault) as well as the adaptation of Maupassant’s short story The Dumpling (2014) – Isabelle Aboulker once again hits the bull’s eye with Myla And The Boat-Tree a commission from the Villecroze Music Academy. In 2015 this musical tale for Narrator Children’s Choir and Instrumental Accompaniment was awarded the “Music for Young Performers Prize” by the French Music Publishers Association. Both in the French version and MarciMeth’s excellent English translation it provides the material for an enthralling educational adventure in which children between the ages of five and eight are invited into their first experience of opera and choir singing. With her trademark finesse and sensitivity the composer tells the story of a little girl dealing with the death of a person she’d cherished above all: her grandfather. Written for choir in unison this tale wafts shimmering melodies over an instrumental accompaniment suffused in turn with gentle melancholy and light humour. An art that speaks from an open heart. The work was written in three versions: for Narrator Children’s Choir and Piano (AL30732) for Narrator Children’s Choir and Trio (Clarinet in Bb Cello and Piano: AL30733) for Narrator Children’s Choir and Instrumental Ensemble (Flute Oboe Clarinet in Bb Bassoon Horn Trumpet in C Trombone Percussion 2 Violins Alto Cello Bass: AL30734) Choral score: AL30743 Listen to Isabelle Aboulker talking about “Myla and the Boat-Tree”: