The Dreamers - A Gothic Tale for Horn Trio by Niels Marthinsen. Programme note: The Dreamers for horn violin and piano is the sixth of a series of seven compositions named after Karen Blixen's collection of short stories Seven Gothic Tales. My musical gothic tales are written for very different ensembles - THE SUPPER AT ELSINORE is a saxophone quartet THE OLD CHEVALIER is for bass trombone and piano THE MONKEY is a chamber orchestra work - but they all share musical material in a criss-cross of contextual references reminiscent of Blixen's narrative complexity: Themes and motivs from one pieceappear in others in new and surprising shapes and combinations. Karen Blixen's THE DREAMERS has the most complex narrative structure of all her seven gothic tales. The story is made up of three tales with different narrators but with the same principal caracter in various disguises all three imbedded within a fourth tale that serves as a framework for the entire short story.The main story line unravels the life of a famous opera diva who looses her voice during a terrible fire. Before this her life was perpetual bliss and the tragedy drives her into assuming different personality guises in order to escape reality.Toward the end she is confronted with her true identity and dies.THE DREAMERS isn't 'about' anything. The music is inspired by the artistic content of Blixen's short story - it's emotionalism dramatic construction atmosphere period and settings - but unfolds in time and musical space in ways that are completely independent of the story's narrative progression...except one might say that the three players try their best to either catch or escape each other and that when they finally meet it happens abruptly even tragically - and only barely provides a little consolation.

The sheet music for Nico Muhly's Doublespeak arranged for Chamber Ensemble and composed for the orchestral sextet 'eighth blackbird'. The piece is arranged for Flute (Soprano Recorder) Clarinet in B flat Percussion (Castanets Tenor Drum Pedal Bass Drum) Glockenspiel Piano Violin and Cello. It works for 2-6 players and this item includes the full score as well as the parts. Doublespeak had its debut at the Edlis Neeson Theatre in Chicago performed by the new musical six-piece 'eighth blackbird'. The piece is a slow and repetitive one punctuated bymoments of stark beauty. It is according to Muhly something of a tribute to the great Philip Glass the forefather of minimalist classical music. It takes implicit inspiration from his entire oeuvre but also explicitly incorporates portions of his most famous and valued works interweaving them inside a new composition that captures what 'eighth blackbird' do best.  The Doublespeak sheet music would be ideal for Chamber Ensembles looking to perform or practise minimalist music drawn from the 1960s and 1970s. If you love Philip Glass or Nico Muhly or both this composition is a real treat.

Par CONNESSON GUILLAUME. Arrangeur : Vlarko Nushev Ce Divertimento est un arrangement de mon Sextuor réalisé par Vlatko Nushev. Divertimento était d'ailleurs le titre que j'avais envisagé au départ, car l' œuvre fut écrite pour un concert de nouvel an au Châtelet à Paris en 1998, à la demande d'Éric Le Sage et Paul Meyer. C'est donc une partition placée sous le signe de la joie et de la bonne humeur avec une suspension mélancolique dans le mouvement lent. Le premier mouvement Dynamique est une série de variations qui multiplie les processus rythmiques hérités de la musique répétitive américaine. Le Nocturne central est une confidence douce et douloureuse chantée par la clarinette sur les tapis harmoniques des cordes et du piano. Enfin le Festif libère une joie fébrile autour de motifs parmi lesquels on trouve un clin d' œil à la Truite de Schubert. La partition s'achève sur un pied de nez cadentiel. Guillaume CONNESSON / Date parution : 2022-11-29/ Répertoire / Ensemble de Chambre