Strauss: Zwei letzte Lieder
Details
Duration:
14'
Instrumentation:
Solo: CT; 2(2picc).1.eh.2.bclar.2 - 2.1.1.0 - timp, cel – str [6.6.4div.4div.4]
Commissioned by:
The Royal Concertgebouworkest
World premiere:
4 April 2019, David Robertson, conducting
About 'Strauss: Zwei letzte Lieder'
Theo Verbey arranged two of the Letzte Lieder by Strauss for this production for countertenor and orchestra.
With the new musical theatre production Death in Venice, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra returns to the Royal Theatre Carré for the first time in a long time. This unique co-production with Internationaal Theater Amsterdam (ITA, formerly known as Toneelgroep Amsterdam), is based on Thomas Mann’s classic novella and features newly composed music.
In Death in Venice, Thomas Mann tells the story of von Aschenbach – a celebrated German writer representing Mann’s alter ego – who meets an innocent adolescent, Tadzio. The writer’s intense, uncontrollable infatuation ultimately leads to his spiritual and physical destruction. In Ramsey Nasr’s reworking as a musical theatre piece, the characters are performed by actors, but also by orchestral musicians and a singer. Music plays a leading role in the drama.
Rachmaninov: Spring Waters Op. 14 no. 11
Details
Duration:
3'
Instrumentation:
1.picc.2.eh.2.2 - 4.3.3.1 - timp, perc[snaredr.trg.cymb.bassdr.glsp], hp - str - soprano-solo
Commissioned by:
The Royal Concertgebouworkest
First performance:
conducted by Mariss Jansons, with Eva-Marie Westbroek as soprano soloist
In Theo's Own Words
“I was commissioned by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra to orchestrate a song by Rachmaninoff called Spring Waters. In 2017 this version had its premiere in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw with Eva-Maria Westbroek singing, accompanied by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Mariss Jansons. I made this orchestration last February (2017) and it took me about a week to do it. The song is fairly short (2 minutes), but it has a rapid tempo and a lot of notes. It was especially difficult to keep the balance between the voice and the orchestra.”
– Theo Verbey
Mussorgsky: Without Sun
Details
Duration:
15'
Instrumentation:
voice 2.0.2.2 - 2.0.0.0 - str (6.6.4.4.2)
Based on texts by:
A.A. Golenishchev-Kutusov
Dedicated to:
Amsterdam Sinfonietta
Premiere:
21 March 1992, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Birgit Remmert, Mezzo Soprano, Amsterdam Sinfonietta conducted by Lev Markiz
Find on CD:
Video
Sunless: I. - Theo Verbey · Pauline Oostenrijk · Marion Del Campo · Netherlands Radio Chamber
1:39
Recording
Mussorgsky: The Nursery
Details
Duration:
14'
Instrumentation:
voice, 2.2.2.2 - 2.0.0.0 - perc, hp, str (6.6.4.4.2)
Commissioned by:
Amsterdam Sinfonietta with financial support from the Nestlé Composition Fund
In Theo's Own Words
“The Nursery is a cycle of seven songs for soprano and piano, for which Mussorgsky wrote the lyrics himself. The cycle originally consisted of just the first five songs. It was published in that form in 1872, with illustrations by the painter Repin, a friend of Mussorgsky. The later Bessel edition (1908) also contains the last two songs. The first song, With the Nanny, was created during the period when Mussorgsky was working on his first opera, The Marriage, of which only the first act was completed. There appears to be a clear relationship between these songs and that opera. Both contain some form of sound reproduction of the spoken word. The text intonation is fixed within the music, which leads to unexpected harmonic turns and a fluid rhythm in an irregular time signature.
The four songs that follow form a unit and were composed during the period when Mussorgsky was working on his most important work: the opera Boris Godunov. These songs also contain the naturalistic elements described above, but lyrical and even dramatic (‘opera-like’) elements, as well. The last two songs were composed almost two years later and are stylistically similar to the previous ones. Both songs contain a dialogue between mother and child, but they contrast greatly in terms of musical setting.
What is amazing about this cycle is the way in which Moussorgsky manages to put himself in the child’s position in a musical sense, and in his own unique way and with a minimum of means, he manages to achieve a maximum of content. All the prototypical moods of a child take place, such as cheerfully asking for a story, grumbling angrily in the corner, the fear of a beetle, and the loving care for a doll. Nowhere, however, does Moussorgsky fall into the extreme caricatures of The Marriage. With a little effort, one can distinguish the influence of Balakirev, Schumann, Liszt (who had a high opinion of this cycle) and Meyerbeer, while the visual power suggested in the music presages the twentieth century.
When Nieuw Sinfonietta Amsterdam asked me in early 1994 to think about making the instrumentation for The Nursery and the Songs and Dances of Death, I was initially hesitant. It wasn’t just that the combination of voice and piano as a genre is difficult to transcribe because of the balance issues. But also because, following my transcription of the song cycle Without Sun in 1989, I was afraid of stepping into the somewhat dubious role of ‘Mussorgsky arranger.’ After all, since Moussorgsky’s death in 1881, many composers have made arrangements of his brilliant but uneven oeuvre, with varying degrees of success. On the one hand, we have Ravel’s faithful orchestral adaptation of the Pictures of an Exhibition; on the other, there is that pinnacle of musical paternalism: Rimsky-Korsakov’s version of Night on Bare Mountain, in which little of the original is retained. Still, I couldn’t resist, partly because of the many piano-extract-like elements within the original accompaniment. These elements seem to me mainly down to the fact that besides these songs, Mussorgsky was almost entirely occupied writing an opera. In addition, he would have been acquainted with a lot of German and French opera repertoire in the form of reductions for voice and piano. All in all, it turned out that the piano accompaniment was quite easy to transcribe and it was perhaps no coincidence that I took the orchestral configuration of Ravel’s Ma Mère l’Oye as a point of departure: a work based on the Mother Goose fairy tales, and equally composed from the perspective of a child. Because of the small size of the orchestra, I could aim for the same effect as a ‘muted opera orchestra,’ so that the singing voice has all the space it needs.
The adaptation of The Nursery for soprano and chamber orchestra was made at the request of Nieuw Sinfonietta Amsterdam with financial support from the Nestlé Composition Fund.”
– Theo Verbey
Mussorgsky: Songs and Dances of Death
Details
Duration:
21'
Instrumentation:
voice 2perc, pf str (6.6.4.4.2)
Commissioned by:
Amsterdam Sinfonietta – with financial support from the Nestlé Composition Fund
Premiere:
19 Feb. 1996, Concertgebouw, Amsterdam – Nikita Storozjev, bass, Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Lev Marikz, conductor
In Theo's Own Words
“Songs and Dances of Death is a cycle of four songs for low voice and piano based on texts by Prince Golenistsjev-Koetoesov, one of Mussorgsky’s friends. The score was first published in 1882, by Bessel. The first three songs were written in the spring of 1875, the last song materialized in 1877. The lullaby is a dialogue between death and a mother, taking place above the cradle of her dying child at dawn. The mother fights for her child’s life, but death rocks the child into an eternal sleep. The poem is in atmosphere and content strongly related to the Erlkönig of Goethe, Franz Schubert’s ballad. The second song, Serenade, sketches how a sick woman is unable to sleep in the spring night. Under her window death brings a serenade, in which he sings of the woman’s beauty awaiting the eternal embrace. The third song tells of a drunken farmer who has stumbled in the obscurity of a snowstorm. In Death dances the Trepak with the farmer and sings in his ear: he invites the farmer to death. In the General Mussorgsky has used an existing theme from a Polish revolutionary march. After the battle, night falls, and death appears as the supreme general. He orders the fallen soldiers to join his army. One nevertheless will forget why and for what reason the soldiers have fought and death himself will be the only victor. Initially Mussorgsky planned to orchestrate this cycle himself, but it never happened. After his death both Glazunov and Rimsky-Korsakov made arrangements for voice and large orchestra. My instrumentation for voice and chamber orchestra, at the request of Nieuw Sinfonietta Amsterdam, is nearly the same as the 14th Symphony by Shostakovich. Both works have been written for a small string orchestra and percussion. I have strived in my arrangement in harmony to the poor, low and empty piano arrangement by Mussorgsky, and abandon any external show as much as possible. The percussion is only used at moments of abrupt changes in atmosphere.”
– Theo Verbey
Gesualdo: Sacrae Cationes – 8 songs
Details
Duration:
20'
Instrumentation:
cantus, sextus, altus, quintus, tenor bassus
Commissioned by:
Cappella Gabrielli
About 'Gesualdo: Sacrae Cationes – 8 songs'
This is one of the motets from the Sacræ Cantiones II whose sextus and bassus parts were lost. Theo Verbey completed the score. Partly due to his work, the Cantiones Sacrae are now available for performance again after many centuries.
Recording
Whitman
Details
Duration:
7'
Instrumentation:
sopr 4343 4331 timp 5perc 2hp pf str(16.14.12.10.8)
Based on texts by:
Walt Whitman (1819-1892)
Two Poems of Bloem: 4-part Female Choir
Two Poems of Bloem
Twee Gedichten van Bloem | 2007
Details
Duration:
11'
Instrumentation:
4part female choir
Based on texts by:
J.C. Bloem
Written at the request of:
The Dutch Nationaal Comité 4 en 5 mei
First performance:
During the national Dutch ceremony to commemorate the war dead on 4 May, 2007 with Queen Beatrix in attendance
In Theo's Own Words
“Geluk and Na de Bevrijding were composed in 2007 at the request of the Dutch 4 and 5 May Foundation. The lyrics are by J.C. Bloem. The songs are written for a four-part female choir (note: later arranged for SATB) and are characterized by a consonant style with reference to the very early polyphony from Ars Nova (± 1300 – 1400) in France.”
– Theo Verbey
Two Poems of Bloem: Mixed Choir
Two Poems of Bloem
Twee Gedichten van Bloem | 2012
Details
Duration:
11'
Instrumentation:
4part mixed choir SATB
Based on texts by:
J.C. Bloem
Written at the request of:
The Dutch Nationaal Comité 4 en 5 mei
First performance:
During the national Dutch ceremony to commemorate the war dead on 4 May, 2007 with Queen Beatrix in attendance
In Theo's Own Words
“Geluk and Na de Bevrijding were composed in 2007 at the request of the Dutch 4 and 5 May Foundation. The lyrics are by J.C. Bloem. The songs are written for a four-part female choir (note: later arranged for SATB) and are characterized by a consonant style with reference to the very early polyphony from Ars Nova (± 1300 – 1400) in France.”
– Theo Verbey
Sechs Rilke-Lieder
Details
Instrumentation:
version for bar pf, or: baritone and chamber orchestra 2222 2000 perc hp str (6.6.4.4.2.)
Based on texts by:
Rainer Maria Rilke
Dedicated to:
Nieuw Sinfonietta Amsterdam and Olaf Bär
Commissioned by:
Performing Arts Fund NL
In Theo's Own Words
“All the texts used in the Sechs Rilke-Lieder are taken from the first part of the Neue Gedichten the way Rainer Maria Rilke published them in 1907. I chose the poems upon first reading on the basis of two subjects—Love and Death. It was the baritone Olaf Bär who suggested using texts by Rilke. The poems are: Liebes-Lied, Grabmal eines jungen Mädchen, Geburt der Venus, Jugend-Bildnis meines Vaters, Morgue, and Todes-Erfahrung. The cycle is grouped around the third poem: Geburt der Venus, which is also the longest, lasting about 10 minutes. The other songs are 2 to 3 minutes long.
For the first time in ten years, I did not start with a preconceived model for the division of musical time, but instead used only the text as a guide to the timing.
As a genre, the “orchestral song” is a purely late Romantic genre, whose history begins with Hector Berlioz’s Nuits d’été. Since I have attempted to make the textual content as audible as possible, without falling into easy irony or an equally easy form of abstraction, the Sechs Rilke-Lieder seem to fit into this tradition.”
– Theo Verbey