Hesse, revisited

[vkioulaphides]

Dear friends, one and all,

I don't know whether mine was a geographic (i.e. European-specific) or generational experience but, be it as it may, I am one of those who grew up with (and on) such texts as Hermann Hesse's Demian, Steppenwolf, Magister Ludi and the like.

Thus it was a profound "homecoming" of sorts when I was asked by the Dutch ensemble Asteria, comprising countertenor Sytse Buwalda, guitarist Saskia Spinder, and mandolinist Ferdinand Binnendijk, to compose a song-cycle on poems by that gentlest soul among German expatriates, and a towering figure, Nobel-prize-pedigreed man of letters.

This past week I delivered my Hesse Lieder, a cycle of nine songs, grouped (by Sytse and Saskia) into three smaller threesomes, thematic mini-cycles. They are scored for alto, with the guitar providing the "orchestral" accompaniment, and the mandolin discretely chiming in with a simple, straight-from-the-heart obbligato.

Some of these songs will be premiered as soon as this July 14th (!) in the Netherlands, then the cycle in its entirety on several occasions next fall, in Havana, Cuba.

Judgment on how good (or not) these songs are belongs to others. All I can say is that my life will never be the same, now that I wrote them. The inward/outward journey these poems took me on was an intensely private experience, yet also one that virtually everyone and anyone familiar with Hesse's writings would fully, intuitively understand.

Let the curtain rise!

Cheers,

Victor

[Alex Timmerman]

Hi Victor and all,

A week or so ago I had the privilege to hear six of the nine Hesse songs Victor composed for the Asteria Ensemble, and I find them totally awesome! With almost 'nothing' Victor knows exactly how to capture the right atmosphere of each of the poems. So delicate! I am sure these Hesse Lieder will be a success!

Victor, we here at the Mandolin café are all privileged to have you in our midst!


Many thanks, Victor; again beautiful music inwhich our little instrument has a wonderful role to play!

Alex.

[Alex Timmerman]

And here is a photo of the Asteria Ensemble.

[vkioulaphides]

Thank you kindly, dear friend.

Hopefully you will soon hear the remaining songs, too; the full "architecture" of the cycle becomes evident only once one hears all nine songs, of course. There is thematic integration between the various songs, a "backbone" of closely related keys, all sorts of echoes and premonitions, looking back or forwards, respectively. The cycle ends on a summer day, full of contentment and the ineffable melancholy of Hesse's introspection into the self / observation of nature. The German language was rarely capable of subtler nuances, of finer shadings, of more whimsical peeks into the psyche than what Hesse wrote in these short, modest, often quotidian poems.

Almost nothing, indeed... as I grow as a composer, I strive to find that economy of means that defines artistic maturity, the "reaching deep into the self"— and that quest, of course, is never more appropriate than when one is setting Hesse, of all authors!

This is a truly momentous time in my life. I started my career as primarily a vocal composer, saw through no fewer than nine (!) operas to the stage in the '90's, plus countless songs— usually written as souvenirs, requested by cast members of said opera productions. Then, in November of 2002, a dancer friend asked me to write Diferencias... "The rest is history", as the saying goes.

No, I do not plan of course to stop writing for the mandolin. Yet the extremely sparse writing for the obbligato mandolin in these songs is a farewell of sorts: I have written pieces of staggering difficulty (like my Sweelinck Variations, for Sebastiaan de Grebber), I have written my symphonic magnum opus (Sinfonia a pizzico, for Het Consort), I have left nothing undone, so to speak. With the gentle, nearly self-evident obbligato mandolin in these songs I punctuate, I round off an entire decade of my musical life. I am happy, and I hope audiences are, too.

Cheers,

Victor

[vkioulaphides]

Four of these songs, Jugendflucht, Im Nebel, Blauer Schmetterling, and August were premiered this past Saturday in the Netherlands. Those are songs number one, three, eight, and nine in the cycle- a perfectly reasonable, artistic "anthology". I was unable to attend, being in hotter climes at that time. I do believe, however, that they were well received. More performances are coming up in the fall, in Havana. By then, ironically, I will be relishing New York's autumnal chill, and still miss meeting my offspring...

Cheers,

Victor

[brunello97]

Totally awesome. Victor, fortune was smiling on me the day we became friends.

Mick

[vkioulaphides]

Fortuna fortis adiuvat, my friend :-) It takes some fortitude to bear with my hereditary madness. The pleasure of friendship, however, is entirely mine. As for my musical children, they will find their own way, somehow...

Cheers,

victor

[billhay4]

Can't wait to hear them!
Bill

[zoukboy]

Congratulations Victor! Sounds like a fascinating project.

[Fretbear]

Hesse's works, "Demian" in particular, irrevocably changed my life at a young age and it's entire direction; congratulations.

[vkioulaphides]

Likewise, Fretbear, likewise...

In due time, these scores will also go into circulation, after the premiere of the full cycle in Havana, this fall. Of mandolinists, there are aplenty here; one would need a fine alto and a competent guitarist. Despite the uncommon instrumentation, I like to believe that these songs have some future. All that, of course, is entirely out of my hands.

Cheers and many thanks to one and all,

Victor