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Dunkelhvide Månestråler (1996) |
solo contralto, solo cor anglais, orchestra - 20'
'Dunkelhvide Månestråler', translates as ‘Pale-shadowy Moonlight’ - a poetic, strong and clear image. Tove Ditlevsen, well-known and much loved as novelist and poet, particularly in her native Denmark, committed suicide in 1976. These poems are about a wish to depart from earthly life. They are heartbreakingly beautiful, yet without a trace of sentimentality or self pity. Instead, they are suffused with serenity and show the writer reflecting upon the beauty of the natural world - moonlight, snow crystals, stardust, the distant planets and the unfailing rebirth of the seasons.
The two soloists, contralto and cor anglais, occupy the same medium/low rather dark register, and in many ways, act out one and the same role. Sometimes the cor anglais supports the singer, elaborating on her music, playing in unison, even sometimes ‘singing’ her melodies first; other times, though, he will take off on his own as in the two purely instrumental interludes when the music becomes wilder and rougher, as if all the nameless fears that lurk in the shadows behind Ditlevsen’s words, can only be expressed through the more abstract medium of instrumental sound.
Chamber orchestra forces are used; these include harp and a colourful percussion section which includes cowbells, vibraphone and the glitter of flexitones and marktree. There are also many passages where two solo violins shine through the textures.
The work was commissioned by the City of London Sinfonia and written especially for them and soloists Catherine Wyn-Rogers and Nicholas Daniel who performed in the premiere (13 October 1996, Barbican Hall, conducted by Richard Hickox).
© Diana Burrell