Der Handschuh (Waterhouse)

Der Handschuh (The Glove) is a composition by Graham Waterhouse. He wrote the setting of Friedrich Schiller's ballad for cello and speaking voice in 2005. It was published in 2007 in Heinrichshofen's Verlag.

Der Handschuh
by Graham Waterhouse
Composer Graham Waterhouse, 2011
Year2005 (2005)
Periodcontemporary
TextFriedrich Schiller: Der Handschuh
Published2007 (2007): Wilhelmshaven Heinrichshofen's Verlag
Movements1
Scoringcello, speaking voice

History of cello and speaking voice

Graham Waterhouse composed Der Handschuh in 2005, as a kind of melodrama in the tradition of spoken narrative to instrumental accompaniment, such as ballads by Robert Schumann and Richard Strauss, a crucial scene of Weber's opera Der Freischütz and 20th century settings by Schoenberg, William Walton, Henze and Poulenc's L'Histoire de Babar, le petit éléphant.[1] It is the composer's first major work for the combination of Sprechstimme (speaking voice) and his instrument, the cello. Until then he had occasionally set texts to music for the unusual scoring. In 1995 he wrote Vezza, a limerick on whether/weather as a German might pronounce it,[2] recorded in 2002 with the composer speaking and playing.[3] In 2001 he set Flohlied (Song of the Flea), the satirical song from Goethe's Faust I, to music,[4] published by Heinrichshofen's Verlag.[5] The final poem of his song cycle Sechs späteste Lieder (six latest songs, 2003) after Friedrich Hölderlin for mezzo-soprano and cello is spoken.[6]

He composed Der Handschuh in 2005 for the 200th anniversary of Schiller's death. Following its success, he wrote more frequently for the combination of cello and speaking voice. In 2006 he set to music Animalia, three funny poems on animals by Hans Krieger.[7] In 2007 he wrote Das Hexen-Einmaleins (The Witches One-Times-One),[8] again from Goethe's Faust and published by Heinrichshofen's Verlag in 2009.,[5] the dramatic monologue Aases Himmelfahrt from Henrik Ibsen's Peer Gynt,[9] Gruselett after Christian Morgenstern's nonsense poem for three speaking voices and string trio,[10] and Belsatzar on Heinrich Heine's Romanze.[11] In 2010 he composed Der Werwolf after a poem by Morgenstern, and a different setting The Banshee on its English version by Max Knight.[12]

Plot and composition

The composer summarises the ballad Der Handschuh, which Schiller wrote in 1797 in a friendly ballad competition with Goethe: "The story is set in the reign of the French King François I. In it the king stages a fight between a variety of wild animals for the entertainment of his guests (we read in the "Essais historiques sur Paris" of Monsieur de Saint-Foix that an arena existed in what is now known as the "Rue des Lions" in Paris). The animals, however, prove to be placid creatures: the real contest plays itself out among the spectators, when a certain Dame Cunigund challenges her lover to demonstrate his affection for her by retrieving a glove she had affected to let fall accidentally into the arena. This he does, to the amazement of the crowd; at the end, however, events take an unexpected turn."[13]

The different actors, including the animals, are portrayed musically in leitmotifs. The piece is intended to be performed by one person reciting and playing, but can also be performed by a cellist and a speaker.[13]

Performances

The composer has frequently performed the work speaking and playing simultaneously. He showed it in 2005 in a portrait concert in St. Martin, Idstein,[14] and in a Gesprächskonzert (lecture concert) in Würzburg.[15] In 2008 he performed it in Cambridge in a program "Melodrama revisited – new compositions for cello and speaking voice", while he was a "Musician By-Fellow" at Churchill College.[16] The program was repeated for a composer's colloquium at the University of Oldenburg, conducted by Violeta Dinescu.[6][17] Waterhouse also performed the work with a speaker, such as Gerd Udo Feller (in German) at the Gasteig Munich on 14 December 2008, in a program with works by Bach, Pablo Neruda, Benjamin Britten, Paul Hindemith, and with other settings for cello and speaking voice by Waterhouse.[6][18] On 12 December 2011 he performed it with speaker Peter Weiß (in German) in a family concert in Gilching, together with Flohlied and Der Werwolf.[6][19]

Publication

Der Handschuh was published in 2007 in both German and English by Heinrichshofen's Verlag, Wilhelmshaven, which also published Flohlied, Das Hexen-Einmaleins and Gruselett. [5]

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References
  1. "Der Handschuh (The Glove) nach Schiller, für Cello und Sprechstimme". Graham Waterhouse. 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  2. "Vezza, Limerick für Cello und Sprechstimme" (in German). Graham Waterhouse. 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  3. Hubert Culot (2004). "Graham Waterhouse". musicweb-international.com. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
  4. "Flohlied (Song of the Flea) nach Goethe, für Cello und Sprechstimme". Graham Waterhouse. 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  5. "Graham Waterhouse". Heinrichshofen's Verlag. 2011. Archived from the original on 9 September 2012. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  6. "Sechs späteste Lieder nach Hölderlin für Mezzosopran und Violoncello". Graham Waterhouse. 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  7. "Animalia nach Gedichten von Hans Krieger für Cello und Sprechstimme" (in German). Graham Waterhouse. 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  8. "Das Hexen-Einmaleins nach Goethe, für Cello und Sprechstimme / The Witches One-Times-One after Goethe, for cello and speaking voice". Graham Waterhouse. 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  9. "Aases Himmelfahrt nach Henrik Ibsen, für Cello und Sprechstimme" (in German). Graham Waterhouse. 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  10. "Gruselett nach Christian Morgenstern für drei Sprechstimmen und drei Violoncelli". Graham Waterhouse. 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  11. "Belsatzar nach Heinrich Heine, Romanze für Cello und Sprechstimme" (in German). Graham Waterhouse. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  12. "Der Werwolf nach dem Gedicht von Christian Morgenstern, für Violoncello und Sprechstimme / The Banshee (Max Knight)" (in German). Graham Waterhouse. 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  13. "Waterhouse, Graham / Der Handschuh ("The Glove")". Edition Peters. 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  14. "Begegnung mit Graham Waterhouse" (PDF) (in German). St. Martin, Idstein. 9 April 2005. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  15. "Gesprächskonzerte 2005" (in German). flammabis.de. 2005. Archived from the original on 3 April 2012. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  16. "14 Mar 2008 – Melodrama revisited – new compositions for cello and speaking voice / Presented by Graham Waterhouse (Lent term Music By Fellow)". Churchill College. 14 March 2008. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
  17. ""Melodrama re-visited" / Komponisten-Colloquium mit Graham Waterhouse" (in German). University of Oldenburg. 13 June 2008. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  18. "Cello Sprache Melodram". Graham Waterhouse. 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  19. Reinhard Palmer (2011). "Liebt, was sich reibt" (in German). leo-n-art.de. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
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