Contrasts
Among Beethoven's lesser works is a pair of Italian songs, L'amante impatiente, in which the same words are set in very contrasting moods: in one the singer sighs longingly for his/her lover, while in the second he/she is exasperated at the other's tardiness. While not among the composer's best outpourings, it is nonetheless a fascinating example of how one set of words can be interpreted (in this case, by one person) in markedly different ways.
It's comparatively rare for a composer to make multiple use of the same words - one obvious exception being settings of the Ordinary of the Mass - and indeed composers tend to be particular about their choice of texts in general when it comes to vocal music. Before opera seria fell out of favour, Metastasio (whose words Beethoven used in the example above) was more or less ubiquitous and since then, only Shakespeare can lay any claim to universality. Biblical texts, however, stand slightly apart, as they continue to provide inspiration to composers without being restricted to one language alone.
I've become conscious of this just recently in my own composing. Some years ago I wrote a setting of Lamentations 1:12 - "Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow" - in which the emphasis was very much on the word 'sorrow': that one word is repeated a dozen times in the space of a couple of minutes, more often that not in the form of an echoing sigh. Among the pieces I'm working on at the moment is a work, also for unaccompanied choir, which includes the same text, also in Latin, but from a different perspective: this time, the key word is similis, suggesting the listener's pain is nothing compared the speaker's. The same text, once soothing, is now bold and angry: instead of providing comfort they are an accusation.
That said, there wouldn't be much point in composing two near-identical settings of the same words, now would there?
It's comparatively rare for a composer to make multiple use of the same words - one obvious exception being settings of the Ordinary of the Mass - and indeed composers tend to be particular about their choice of texts in general when it comes to vocal music. Before opera seria fell out of favour, Metastasio (whose words Beethoven used in the example above) was more or less ubiquitous and since then, only Shakespeare can lay any claim to universality. Biblical texts, however, stand slightly apart, as they continue to provide inspiration to composers without being restricted to one language alone.
I've become conscious of this just recently in my own composing. Some years ago I wrote a setting of Lamentations 1:12 - "Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow" - in which the emphasis was very much on the word 'sorrow': that one word is repeated a dozen times in the space of a couple of minutes, more often that not in the form of an echoing sigh. Among the pieces I'm working on at the moment is a work, also for unaccompanied choir, which includes the same text, also in Latin, but from a different perspective: this time, the key word is similis, suggesting the listener's pain is nothing compared the speaker's. The same text, once soothing, is now bold and angry: instead of providing comfort they are an accusation.
That said, there wouldn't be much point in composing two near-identical settings of the same words, now would there?
posted by Anthony at
16:09
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home