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Alexander Goehr (Composer) | Robert Frost (Author of original text) | William Shakespeare (Author of original text)
Three Sonnets and Two Fantasias
for counter-tenor and viol consort
text by William Shakespeare and Robert Frost
countertenor and viol consort
Edition: Performance material
Product Details
Description
Three sonnets, the first and last to words by Shakespeare and the one in between by Robert Frost, were composed in the summer of last year; the first to mark the marriage of Susan Rankin and David Ganz: “Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments,” the last, my part of an
affectionate exchange of songs with Hugh Wood, leaving Cambridge University at the same time as myself: “Why is my verse so barren of new pride?” and the Frost for Frank Kermode’s eightieth birthday, setting a favourite of his which he had originally sent me at the time he was putting together the text of Sing, Ariel.
Later, in February of this year, I added two five-part fantasias, the one to follow the Frost setting and the other to preceed the last Shakespeare, both making use of motifs from the respective sonnets.
To write new music for ancient instruments poses the particular problem of appropriate tuning. I suppose it is possible simply to ignore this and leave the players to fend for themselves as best they can. But, I suspect, the particular colouring of the viol-consort must depend as much on its harmony as on the instruments themselves. At the outset, I did my best to understand the tuning systems, but when it came to the point of actual composing, I had to go for it intuitively. As a result I found myself, to some extent, composing with no clear idea of the resulting sounds: rather like doing electronic music. But then all composing is going from the known to the unknown.
Alexander Goehr
affectionate exchange of songs with Hugh Wood, leaving Cambridge University at the same time as myself: “Why is my verse so barren of new pride?” and the Frost for Frank Kermode’s eightieth birthday, setting a favourite of his which he had originally sent me at the time he was putting together the text of Sing, Ariel.
Later, in February of this year, I added two five-part fantasias, the one to follow the Frost setting and the other to preceed the last Shakespeare, both making use of motifs from the respective sonnets.
To write new music for ancient instruments poses the particular problem of appropriate tuning. I suppose it is possible simply to ignore this and leave the players to fend for themselves as best they can. But, I suspect, the particular colouring of the viol-consort must depend as much on its harmony as on the instruments themselves. At the outset, I did my best to understand the tuning systems, but when it came to the point of actual composing, I had to go for it intuitively. As a result I found myself, to some extent, composing with no clear idea of the resulting sounds: rather like doing electronic music. But then all composing is going from the known to the unknown.
Alexander Goehr
Orchestral Cast
treble viol.2 tenor viols(1. treble viol).2bass viols
Content
I Sonnet CXVI of William Shakespeare
II Sonnet: The Silken Tent by Robert Frost
III Fantasia 1
IV Fantasia 2
V Sonnet LXXVI of William Shakespeare
II Sonnet: The Silken Tent by Robert Frost
III Fantasia 1
IV Fantasia 2
V Sonnet LXXVI of William Shakespeare
More Information
Title:
Three Sonnets and Two Fantasias
for counter-tenor and viol consort
text by William Shakespeare and Robert Frost
Language:
English
Edition:
Performance material
Publisher/Label:
Schott Music
Year of composition:
2000
Opus:
op. 68
Duration:
15 ′
World Premiere:
July 1, 2000 · Cheltenham (UK)
Pittville Pump Room
Cheltenham Festival 2000
Michael Chance, counter tenor; Fretwork
July 1, 2000 · Cheltenham (UK)
Pittville Pump Room
Michael Chance, countertenor · Fretwork
Pittville Pump Room
Cheltenham Festival 2000
Michael Chance, counter tenor; Fretwork
July 1, 2000 · Cheltenham (UK)
Pittville Pump Room
Michael Chance, countertenor · Fretwork
Commissioned work :
Commissioned by Fretwork and the Cheltenham International Festival of Music, with funds provided by the Britten-Pears Foundation and the Cheltenham Festival New Music Fund
Technical Details
Product number:
LSL 10081-01
Performances
Three Sonnets and Two Fantasias
Orchestra: Sit Fast
February 16, 2020 |
Paris (France) , Auditorium de Radio France
16.00
Three Sonnets and Two Fantasias
Vale of Glamorgan Festival 2015
Orchestra: Fretwork
May 15, 2015 |
Penarth (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) , St. Augustine's Church
Three Sonnets and Two Fantasias
Festival Messiaen au Pays de la Meije 2013
August 3, 2013 |
Briançon (France) , Collégiale — National Premiere
Three Sonnets and Two Fantasias
March 20, 2013 |
London (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) , Wigmore Hall
19.30 h
Three Sonnets and Two Fantasias
June 18, 2010 |
London (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) , King's Place
19.30 h
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