gerelateerde werken

I Sit And Look Out : for mixed choir and orchestra / Bart Michiels; poetry by Walt Whitman

Genre: Vocaal
Subgenre: Gemengd koor en orkest
Bezetting: GK 2fl(picc) 2ob eh 2cl 2fg 4h 3tpt 3trb timp 2perc str

O whispering suns : a doina in 6 scenes : for large choir, medium choir, violin and cymbalom / Vanessa Lann ; text: Walt Whitman

Genre: Vocaal
Subgenre: Gemengd koor en instrumenten
Bezetting: 2GK4 vl cymb

St. Luke Passion : for vocalists, choir and ensemble / Calliope Tsoupaki

Genre: Vocaal
Subgenre: Gemengd koor en orkest
Bezetting: soloists MK fl(pic) ob(eh) cl(cl-b) ney kemence canun man g hp pf perc vl vla vc cb

Der Kreis des Lebens : Cantata for soprano, tenor, 8-part mixed choir and orchestra / Jan van Gilse; words by Rainer Maria Rilke

Genre: Vocaal
Subgenre: Gemengd koor en orkest
Bezetting: sopr-solo ten-solo GK 3fl 3ob 4cl 2fg cfg 4h 4tpt 3trb tb 4timp 3perc pf 2hp str

Due Madrigali : Bewerking voor gemengd koor en symfonieorkest / Hendrik Andriessen; bewerking voor gemengd koor en symfonieorkest door Piet Kingma

Genre: Vocaal
Subgenre: Gemengd koor en orkest

compositie

I Sit And Look Out : for mixed choir and orchestra / Bart Michiels; poetry by Walt Whitman

Overige auteurs:
Michiels, Bart (Componist)
Whitman, Walt (Tekstdichter/librettist)
Toelichting:
One gloomy day, while browsing some poetry, a poem by the great American writer Walt Whitman caught my eye: I Sit and Look Out.
The poem constitutes a critical reflection on various forms of social oppression throughout modern history. In the poem, Whitman depicts human nature as one of cruelty, injustice and indifference, suggesting the human tendency to ignore other people's suffering and not to intervene if it is not directly related to oneself.
Indeed, throughout history, individuals and societies have always succeeded in causing suffering and agony to each other, be it because of differences in belief systems, religion, skin color, gender, sexual preference or wealth.
Even today in COVID times, Whitman's analysis about human behavior remains accurate as the world is more polarized than ever before.
Inspired by the universality and topicality of Whitman's poem, I decided to use his text to write a piece for choir and orchestra, also lending his title for the work.
I wanted the music to reflect Whitman's dark depiction of humanity, thereby using the full force and colors of the orchestra. The mixed choir functions as the central observer in Whitman's poem, indifferently noting all the suffering and injustices around the world.
Despite the dark athmosphere throughout the piece, there are also shimmers of hope in moments where the orchestra & choir come together in a single unisono chant.
Bart Michiels, January 2022