Voices (Henze)
Encyclopedia
Voices is a musical composition
by the German
composer
Hans Werner Henze
.
Written between January and June 1973, it is a collection of 22 independent song
s which may be performed individually, with alterations to the instrumentation. In its full version, it is written for mezzo-soprano
, tenor
, electronics and fifteen instrumentalists who are required to play about 70 different instruments from all over the world. The piece makes use of radio broadcasts, sports commentaries, a speech by John F. Kennedy
and an extract from Sibelius's Second Symphony
.
The songs set a diverse range of words, almost all of which are from the twentieth century, the linking theme being alienation and oppression. Henze has said:
It was premiered on 4 January 1974 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall
, London
with soloists Paul Sperry and Rose Taylor, and the London Sinfonietta
conducted by Henze. In 1978 it was recorded the same forces, except Sarah Walker who took the mezzo role.
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
by the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
Hans Werner Henze
Hans Werner Henze
Hans Werner Henze is a German composer of prodigious output best known for "his consistent cultivation of music for the theatre throughout his life"...
.
Written between January and June 1973, it is a collection of 22 independent song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
s which may be performed individually, with alterations to the instrumentation. In its full version, it is written for mezzo-soprano
Mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...
, tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
, electronics and fifteen instrumentalists who are required to play about 70 different instruments from all over the world. The piece makes use of radio broadcasts, sports commentaries, a speech by John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
and an extract from Sibelius's Second Symphony
Symphony No. 2 (Sibelius)
Jean Sibelius's Symphony No. 2 in D major, Opus 43 was started in Winter 1900 in Rapallo, Italy, and finished in 1902 in Finland. It was first performed by the Helsinki Philharmonic Society on 8 March 1902, with the composer conducting...
.
The songs set a diverse range of words, almost all of which are from the twentieth century, the linking theme being alienation and oppression. Henze has said:
The voices of the title are those of young and old artists whose work is politically committed. These people are concerned with their fellow human beings, with the contemporary human condition within the world around them and with all the problems of race and class in which they themselves often seem fated to be embroiled.
It was premiered on 4 January 1974 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall
Queen Elizabeth Hall
The Queen Elizabeth Hall is a music venue on the South Bank in London, United Kingdom that hosts daily classical, jazz, and avant-garde music and dance performances. The QEH forms part of Southbank Centre arts complex and stands alongside the Royal Festival Hall, which was built for the Festival...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
with soloists Paul Sperry and Rose Taylor, and the London Sinfonietta
London Sinfonietta
The London Sinfonietta is an English chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London. The ensemble specialises in contemporary music and works across a wide range of genres, performing modern classics alongside world premieres, and includes music by electronica artists as well as folk and...
conducted by Henze. In 1978 it was recorded the same forces, except Sarah Walker who took the mezzo role.
Songs
- 'Los poetas cubanos ya no suerñan' ('Cuban Poets Do Not Sleep Anymore') (Heberto PadillaHeberto PadillaHeberto Padilla was a Cuban poet. The Padilla Affair was named after him. He was born in Puerta de Golpe, Pinar del Río, Cuba. His first book of poetry, Las rosas audaces , was published in 1948...
) - 'Prison Song' (Ho Chi MinhHo Chi MinhHồ Chí Minh , born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and also known as Nguyễn Ái Quốc, was a Vietnamese Marxist-Leninist revolutionary leader who was prime minister and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam...
) - 'Keiner oder alle' ('All or None') (Bertolt BrechtBertolt BrechtBertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
) - 'The electric cop' (Victor Hernandez CruzVictor Hernández CruzVictor Hernández Cruz is a Puerto Rican poet.-Life:He moved to New York in 1954. He began writing at fifteen, and published his first collections of poetry in the late 1960s....
) - 'The distant drum' (Calvin C. HerntonCalvin C. HerntonCalvin Coolidge Hernton was an American sociologist, poet and author.He was born in Chattanooga Tennessee, USA on 28 April 1932. He studied at Talladega College and Fisk University. He subsequently came to London and worked with the Institute of Phenomenalogical Stduies. He was a Professor of...
) - '42 Schulkinder' (Schoolchildren) (Erich FriedErich FriedErich Fried , an Austrian poet who settled in England, was known for his political-minded poetry. He was also a broadcaster, translator and essayist....
) - 'Caino' (Gino de Sanctis)
- 'Il Pasi' (Mario TobinoMario TobinoMario Tobino was an Italian poet, writer and psychiatrist.Tobino was born in Viareggio, Tuscany. A prolific writer, he debuted as a poet but later composed mostly novels...
) - 'Heimkehr' ('Homecoming') (Heinrich HeineHeinrich HeineChristian Johann Heinrich Heine was one of the most significant German poets of the 19th century. He was also a journalist, essayist, and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of Lieder by composers such as Robert Schumann...
) - 'Grecia 1970' ('Greece 1970') (Guiseppe Ungaretti)
- 'Legende von der Enstehung des Buches Taoteking auf dem Weg des Laotse in die Emigration' ('Legend of the Origin of the Book Tao Te ChingTao Te ChingThe Tao Te Ching, Dao De Jing, or Daodejing , also simply referred to as the Laozi, whose authorship has been attributed to Laozi, is a Chinese classic text...
on Lao Tzu's Way into Exile') (Brecht) - 'Gedanken eines Revuemädchens während des Entkleidungsaktes' ('Thoughts of a Showgirl as She Strips') (Brecht)
- 'Das wirkliche Messer' ('The Real Knife') (Hans Magnus EnzensbergerHans Magnus EnzensbergerHans Magnus Enzensberger , is a German author, poet, translator, and editor. He has also written under the pseudonym Andreas Thalmayr. He lives in Munich.- Life :...
) - 'Recht und Billig' ('A Fair Deal') (Fried)
- 'Patria' (Miguel BarnetMiguel BarnetMiguel Barnet is a Cuban writer, novelist and ethnographer. He studied sociology at the University of Havana, under Fernando Ortiz , the pioneer of Cuban anthropology. Fernando Ortíz's studies of Afro-Cuban cultures influenced many of the themes, both literary and scholarly, of Barnet.-Early...
) - 'Screams - Interlude' (Walton Smith)
- 'The worker' (Richard W. Thomas)
- 'Para aconsejar a una dama' ('Advice to a Lady') (Padilla)
- 'Roses and revolutions' (Dudley RandallDudley RandallDudley Randall was an African American poet and poetry publisher from Detroit, Michigan. He founded a publishing company called Broadside Press in 1965, which published many leading African American writers. Randall's most famous poem is "The Ballad of Birmingham", written during the 1960s, about...
) - 'Vermutung über Hessen' ('Conjecture about Hessen') (F.C. Delius)
- 'Schluss' ('An End') (Michalis Katsaros)
- 'Das Blumenfest' ('Carnival of Flowers') (Enzensberger)