gerelateerde werken
Variations : for piano and strings, 1981 / John Borstlap
Genre:
Orkest
Subgenre:
Piano en strijkorkest
Bezetting:
str pf-solo
Skimbleshanks: the railway cat : for baritone, bass clarinet and trombone, 1975 / Rokus de Groot
Genre:
Vocaal
Subgenre:
Zangstem en instrument(en)
Bezetting:
bar cl-b trb
Love Song to Aminta : Version for baritone, horn and piano / Elena Langer; poem by Aphra Behn
Genre:
Vocaal
Subgenre:
Zangstem en instrument(en)
Bezetting:
zang h pf
Genre:
Vocaal
Subgenre:
Zangstem en instrument(en)
Bezetting:
sopr fl hp vl vla vc
compositie
Rajanigandha : for soprano, flute and piano / John Borstlap ; seven poems by Rabindranath Tagore
Overige auteurs:
Tagore, Rabindranath
(Tekstdichter/librettist)
Borstlap, John
(Componist)
Bevat:
Bevat: 1. Dance of life
2. The parting
3. Useless dialogue
4. The stranger
5. Spring
6. Immutability
7. Transfiguration
Toelichting:
The texts, by the Indian poet, writer and mystic Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), were taken from the collection 'The Gardener' (1913), which contains poems translated by the author from the original Bengali. Most of these lyrics of love and life were written much earlier than the series of religious poems named 'Gitanjali' which won Tagore the Nobel Prize in 1913. The translations are not always literal: the originals being sometimes abridged and sometimes paraphrased. 'Rajanigandha' is the Bengali name of a small plant, with very fragrant white funnel-shaped flowers that shed their fragrance at night.
The refinement of the musical textures requires a delicate and intimate approach, in which voice, flute and piano part form a total patterns of integrated, ornamental detail, as can be found in the ornamental culture of India's past. The balance should not be understood as a 'voice plus accompaniment', but as an integrated whole in which no part dominates, the piano part forms a unifying framework, a tapestry of sound in which the other parts organically find their place. The voice and flute parts are structural parts of the total fabric, and should not employ a too pronounced vibrato, but a light sound with a light, added vibrato at places for expressive reasons. In the voice part, the distinction between parlando passages and lyrical passages is obvious, a discrete, not too pronounced diction is recommended. The music should not be 'romanticized' by rubati, which are not indicated. The last song, 'Transfiguration', is highly atmospheric and should create the dreamy effect of an 'unreal' vision, enveloped in an aura of otherwordly light; the piano part - in which the transitions of rhythm have to be executed with suppleness - should be played with the left pedal throughout to create the required 'misty' sound quality. - JOHN BORSTLAP