Sir Harrison Birtwistle
3 Settings of Celan
Short instrumentation: cl(2), descant viol, tenor viol, bass viol, contrabass viol, cb
Duration: 15'
Bearbeitet von: Malcolm Bruno
Übersetzer: Michael Hamburger
Text von: Paul Celan
Solos:
soprano
Instrumentation details:
1st clarinet in Bb
2nd clarinet in Bb
descant viol
tenor viol
bass viol
contrabass viol
contrabass
Birtwistle - 3 Settings of Celan for soprano, 2 clarinets and viol consort
Work introduction
Altogether Birtwistle set nine of Celan’s poems to music. Universal Edition publishes Night, White and Light and Tenebrae (each of which can be performed alone) as well as three of his nine short string quartets. (The other six songs and quartets are available from Boosey [&] Hawkes). When performed together, the nine songs and nine quartets alternating as part of a single work are called collectively Pulse Shadows. The three Celan settings are slow laments; Tenebrae, in which the poet addresses God directly, is the most animated.