Royal Winter Music "1st Sonata"
[Solo Guitar]
First Sonata on Shakespearean Characters
My idea of developing music from Gloucester's monologue 'Now is the winter of our discontent' and further music from it goes back to the sixties. It only took shape ten years later when Julian Bream suggested that I make a more extensive guitar work for him. But only last year after We Come to the River endedI was able to tackle the realization of this plan. This began a collaboration with the instrumentalist that spanned several phases, from which I was able to bring back a deeper knowledge of the acoustic and technical aura of the guitar, maybe even a new idea of writing for traditional instruments. Because the guitar, which belongs so much to our distant past, to our history, a 'knowing' instrument full of limits, but also full of unknown breadth and depths, has a tonal richness that can encompass everything that a modern instrument has ; to be able to notice it, one only has to come to the silence, wait and shut out the noise thoroughly. The dramatis personae appearing in this piece step through the sound of the guitar as if through a theater curtain. With their masks, their voices and gestures, they speak to us of great passions, of tenderness, sadness, funny things, strange things in people's lives. The voices of the spirits mingle in in a whisper, and Oberon speaks at the end, pacified and reconciled, as if nature had submitted to man. (Hans Werner Henze)
| Featured Product | No |
|---|---|
| Arranger/Editor | Julian Bream |
| Composer | HENZE, HANS WERNER |
| Availability | Available |
| TAB/Notation | Music Notation Only |
| Level of Difficulty | 5 |
| Description | My idea of developing music from Gloucester's monologue 'Now is the winter of our discontent' and further music from it goes back to the sixties. It only took shape ten years later when Julian Bream suggested that I make a more extensive guitar work for him. But only last year after We Come to the River endedI was able to tackle the realization of this plan. This began a collaboration with the instrumentalist that spanned several phases, from which I was able to bring back a deeper knowledge of the acoustic and technical aura of the guitar, maybe even a new idea of writing for traditional instruments. Because the guitar, which belongs so much to our distant past, to our history, a 'knowing' instrument full of limits, but also full of unknown breadth and depths, has a tonal richness that can encompass everything that a modern instrument has ; to be able to notice it, one only has to come to the silence, wait and shut out the noise thoroughly. The dramatis personae appearing in this piece step through the sound of the guitar as if through a theater curtain. With their masks, their voices and gestures, they speak to us of great passions, of tenderness, sadness, funny things, strange things in people's lives. The voices of the spirits mingle in in a whisper, and Oberon speaks at the end, pacified and reconciled, as if nature had submitted to man. (Hans Werner Henze) |