Jonah and the Whale
For viola and tuba
Written for Gérard Buquet, tubist and friend. The idea came to me to write a piece for the seemingly outrageous combination of viola and tuba based on the story of Jonah and the Whale as told in Moby Dick by Hermann Melville. It struck me that the viola could portray the character of Jonah, a frightened fugitive on the run, and that the extraordinary seascape sounds that Gérard could draw from his tuba could conjure up a very convincing whale.
La Valse de la Vineuse
for viola d’amore, clarinet, violin and cello
A piece which tries to capture the atmosphere of a village dance, including the scraping of feet on the open dirt floor, and the dialogues of the newly formed couples.The final walz is the slightly rowdy small scale climax of the evening, after which the villagers go home and leave the barn empty again.
Ockeghem Fantasy
for viola d’amore and five violas
“Ockeghem Fantasy» is based on a three-part song by fifteenth century composer Johannes Ockeghem. The piece begins with a freely improvised cadenza, and throughout the Fantasy, the viola d’amore has the freedom to add short improvisations, ornamentations or commentaries, as suggested by the title. The role of the five violas at the beginning of the piece is to represent the sympathetic strings of the viola d’amore, and they sit in a line behind the viola d’amore, playing simple resonances of the solo part. However, they soon begin to assert their independence…
Marin Marais
Live at the ZKM, Karlsruhe Germany
10th january 2008
Fuga Libre
1990
