KPFA-FM Music Dept. ➔ Voices: A Cantata by Hans Werner Henze, 1 of 2
Analog Audio
Event Type
MusicOrigin
KPFAIdentifier
AM.1978.01.24.AProgram Length
110 minPart
1 of 2Dates
1978-03-07 | broadcast| 1978-01-24 | created
Description
Hans Werner Henze’s full length cantata “Voices,” recorded live at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art on January 24, 1978. This, the Bay Area premiere of the work features Claudia Cummings, soprano, John Duykers, tenor, and the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players conducted by Jean Louis LeRoux.According to the composer’s notes found in the concert program guide: “Except for ‘Prison Song,’ which was originally composed for Yamashta in 1971, these songs were written between January and June 1973...I had wanted to set some of the poems for many years, but it was only in 1973 that I felt the possibility of integrating them into a larger song cycle. The choice of the poems and the order in which they are arranged reflect my own personal political perspective and emotional involvement, and it is this perspective and these feelings which give the cycle its cohesion, rather than any narrative or musical structure. In some cases, I wanted to use highly developed post-serialistic structures and invest them with a meaning; that is to say: to use abstract elements and force them to be vehicles for the concrete. More direct means of expression include jazz, aleatory and elements of music-theater. In other cases I tried to extend the Weill-Eissler-Dessau tradition into my own style. The listener will also, I hope, detect echoes and influences of various folk styles, as well as the tradition of classical Lied.”
Genres
20th century classicalMusical Selections
Voices: Los poetas cubanos ya no sueñan [text by Heberto Padilla] (4:19) ; Prison song: Leg irons [text by Ho Chi Minh] (3:45) ; Keiner oder Alle [text by Bertolt Brecht] (3:36) ; The electric cop [text by Victor Hernandez Cruz] (4:16) ; The distant drum [text by Calvin C. Hernton] (1:23) ; 42 Schulkinder [text by Erich Fried] (4:36) ; Caino [text by Gino de Santis] (5:12) ; Il pasi [text by Mario Tobino] (1:47) ; Heimkehr [text by Heinrich Heine] (6:18) ; Grecia 1970 [text by Giuseppe Ungaretti] (3:51) ; Legende von der Entstehung des Buches Taoteking auf dem Weg des Laotse in die Emigration [text by Bertolt Brecht] (7:19), a song cycle or soprano, tenor, and instrumental ensemble [part one] (1973) / Hans Werner HenzePerformers
Claudia Cummings, sopranoJohn Duykers, tenor
San Francisco Contemporary Music Players:
Janet Ketchum, flute
James Matheson, oboe
Donald O’Brien, clarinet
Jerry Dagg, bassoon
Ralph Hotz, French horn
Charles Metzger, trumpet
Mark Lawrence, trombone
Ernst Gloe, accordion
Peter Draper, guitar
Marvin Tartak, piano
Marta LeRoux, celesta
Rick Kvistad, percussion
David Rosenthal, percussion
Jack van Geem, percussion
Ron Erickson, violin
Mimi Dye, viola
Richard Eade, cello
Toni Navone, bass
Marcella DeCray, electronics
Jean Louis LeRoux, conductor
Subjects
20th century classicalSong cycles
Songs (High voice) with instrumental ensemble
Vocal duets with instrumental ensemble
Political ballads and songs
Related places
San Francisco (Calif.) (was recorded at)Berkeley (Calif.) (was broadcast at)
Related Entities
San Francisco Contemporary Music PlayersHenze, Hans Werner, 1926-
Padilla, Heberto
Hồ, Chí Minh, 1890-1969
Brecht, Bertolt, 1898-1956
Cruz, Victor Hernández, 1949-
Hernton, Calvin C.
Fried, Erich
De Santis, Gino
Tobino, Mario, 1910-
Heine, Heinrich, 1797-1856
Ungaretti, Giuseppe, 1888-1970
Cummings, Claudia
Duykers, John
Ketchum, Janet
Matheson, James (Oboist)
O’Brien, Donald
Dagg, Jerry
Hotz, Ralph
Metzger, Charles, trumpeter
Lawrence, Mark H.
Gloe, Ernst
Draper, Peter (Guitarist)
Tartak, Marvin
Bracchi-LeRoux, Marta
Kvistad, Richard, 1943-
Rosenthal, David, 1952-
Van Geem, Jack
Erickson, Ronald
Dye, Mimi
Eade, Richard
Navone, Toni
De Cray, Marcella
LeRoux, Jean-Louis, 1927-