Karlīna Īvāne played my "Four Pieces from Doktor Faustus" a couple of days ago, and put the performance on YouTube. I am happy to share it here. If you know the Thomas Mann novel, you should recognize the references. If you haven't read the novel, I recommend reading it!
The first movement is based (loosly) on the song "Oh How Lovely is the Evening," which is discussed at length as one of the pieces that Leverhuhn and the narrator sang together. The second movement is based on the Hetaere esmeralda row and incorporates the Tristan chord. The third movement represents the encounter with whatever it is that the narrator (who is a viola d'amore player), says that Leverkuhn (the composer and main character) encounters, be it a daemon or a hallucination of one, and the last movement is a "portrait" the little boy called Echo.
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2 comments:
Congratulations on a lovely piece and lovely performance. The use of the motives are most evocative and effective. (A tiny observation in light of the huge success of the work itself, in III, ms. 33-34 piano part, the tied notes in the treble seem a leftover from copying a gesture in the notation program you use from a 5/4 to 4/4 bar, as the tied notes make up a whole note. This is sometimes a leftover from my engraving too, which sometimes escapes me for love of the sound more than the notation.) Anyway, bravi tutti to composer and players. Have you met them and they you?
Thanks for noticing the notation error, Anonymous. I'll fix it on the PDF in the IMSLP later today. I have not met the musicians (except by way of email), but I certainly hope to one day.
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