Three Poems for Mezzo-Soprano and Piano

SKU: BO.B.3473

ISBN 9788480208147.

English comments: The Requiem in memory of Salvador Espriu by Xavier Benguerel was commissioned by the Torroella de Montgri International Music Festival for a double commemoration: on the one hand, to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Festival, and on the other, in remembrance of Catalan poet Salvador Espriu in the fifth year after his death. This concert, which was held on 5 October, was a brilliant closing gala performance and it was repeated twice on 6 and 7 October at the Palau de la Musica Catalana in Barcelona. It was performed by the Orchestra and Choir of the Gran Teatro del Liceo, with soloists Enriqueta Tarres, soprano; Nelibel Martinez, mezzo soprano; Eduard Gimenez, tenor; and Carlos Chausson, baritone, with the additional collaboration of baritone Lluis Llach, conducted by Romano Gandolfi.

In my opinion, this work by Benguerel is a piece that was written with passion and sincerity, with great strength and depth, and it contains some very beautiful passages. It is written in a language through which, without abandoning his current musical thoughts, Benguerel manages to communicate with the audience in a dense work that lasts for an hour and a half. It is interspersed with seven poems by Espriu on the subject of death, some sung and others recited, which gives the Requiem great contrasts from a musical and linguistic point of view -in comparison with the Latin texts normally used in a requiem mass-, but within a successful and coherent unity. The performers certainly proved their worth, but much of the hard work that went into preparing the piece can be attributed not only to the performers, the composer and the poet in tribute to whom the work was written, but also to the conductor Romano Gandolfi, who is largely responsible for the success of the three performances of this Requiem. Benguerel himself says of the work: This Requiem is linked to my previous work, the Llibre Vermell, and it has been written without making any concessions, but with a true wish to communicate with the audience. I've got past the stage of musical experiments and I'm now working on bridging the gap between composer and audience, which I'm sure will be good for both.
--Comments written by Jordi Codina in the December 1990 issue of Nexus magazine

Comentarios del Espanol: El Requiem a la memoria de Salvador Espriu de Xavier Benguerel ha sido compuesto por encargo del Festival Internacional de Musica de Torroella de Montgri para una doble conmemoracion: por una parte, el decimo aniversario del Festival; por otra, el recuerdo de la figura del poeta catalan Salvador Espriu en el quinto ano de su fallecimiento. Este concierto, celebrado el dia 5 de octubre, constituyo una sesion de gala y de clausura brillante y tuvo una doble repeticion los dias 6 y 7en el Palau de la Musica Catalana de Barcelona. Fueron sus interpretes la Orquesta y el Coro del Gran Teatro del Liceo, con los solistas vocales Enriqueta Tarres, soprano; Nelibel Martinez, mezzo; Eduard Gimenez, tenor; y Carlos Chausson, baritono, con la colaboracion del tambien baritono Lluis Llach. Todos bajo la direccion de Romano Gandolfi.

A mi entender, la obra de Benguerel es una partitura escrita con pasion y sinceridad, posee una gran solidez, es profunda y contiene pasajes de una gran belleza. Esta escrita en un lenguaje con el que Benguerel, sin renunciar a su actual pensamiento musical, alcanza la comunicacion con el publico en una obra densa que dura una hora y media. La intercalacion de siete poemas de Espriu relacionados con el tema de la muerte, en una interpretacion cantada o recitada, segun los casos, otorga al Requiem grandes contrastes desde un punto de vista musical y lingŸistico Ð en contraposicion con los textos latinos propios de una misa de requiem Ð, pero dentro de una unidad conseguida y coherente. La labor de los interpretes demostro su categoria y el trabajo exhaustivo en la preparacion de la obra, que, ademas de los interpretes, el compositor y el poeta homenajeado, tuvo otro gran protagonista en la persona del director Romano Gandolfi, a quien se debe una gran parte del exito obtenido en las tres audiciones de este Requiem. El propio Benguerel ha dicho de la obra: Este Requiem entronca con mi obra anterior, el Llibre Vermell, y ha sido escrito sin concesiones, pero con una voluntad real de comunicacion con el publico. La epoca de los experimentos musicales ya se me paso y he entrado en una nueva etapa de acercamiento entre el compositor y el publico que, estoy convencido, beneficiara a ambos.
--Comentario escrito por Jordi Codina en la revista Nexus en diciembre de 1990

SKU: SU.26020095

Three poems about mortality and being here: an epigram by Thomas Wyatt, an excerpt from The Book of Job – the epic poem of moral outrage and anxiety that has served us well during trying times – and a lyric by Phillis Levin, plus a solo flute interlude, which can be performed separately. This version is for piano instead of harpMezzo-Soprano, Flute & Piano Duration: 12' Composed: 1995/2003/2021 Published by: Rude Awakening Music.

SKU: FG.55011-706-8

ISBN 9790550117068.

Piano reduction available for the first time! Joonas Kokkonen's The Hades of the Birds consists of three songs, two shorter ones framing a longer middle one. The chosen poems were by P. Mustapaa (alias Martti Haavio, 1899-1973), and their appeal lay for him in their simply unique mysticism. The music merges seamlessly with the moods of the poems, closely reacting to the textual nuances.

The original Hades of the Birds was scored for orchestra. Kokkonen did not make a piano version as such because he had always conceived of it as orchestral. The importance of the orchestral element should not, however, be overemphasised, because this is a work painted in clear, delicate, water-colours, not in heavy, colourful brush-strokes. For colour was, he said, always only a secondary factor for him. Hence the piano version also seeks to bring out the essential musical substance of the work.

Osat / songs:
1. Taydellisyyden maassa [In the World of Perfection] (c1-g2)
2. Lintujen tuonela [The Hades of the Birds] (h-g2)
3. Sade [Rain] (cis1-a2).