Located in the UK
Located in the USA
Located in Europe
- Arne Nordheim
Solitaire (1968)
- Edition Wilhelm Hansen Copenhagen (World)
Programme Note
Solitaire was written for the dedication ceremony of the Henie-Onstad Arts Centre at Høvikodden. The premiere performance of the piece was complemented by stage lighting and dance, as a "cantata for sound, light and movement."
The title "Solitaire" is inspired by the poem "Les Bijoux" from Baudelaire's "Les Fleurs de Mals." The glittering and mesmerizing light from metal and precious stones had its direct, sparkling gestalt in the music. "Solitaire" is the name of the most austere diamond setting, where all of the stone's sides are open and refract light. However, "solitaire" may also be translated as "alone", and this beautiful and glittering timbre landscape may also stir feelings of something both alien and alienated. A "virtual" space where we experience the human voice as it interrupts to pierce this glittering and rushing soundscape, with the effect being one of nakedness and loneliness in an all-encompassing whole. The piece's shimmering and crystalline sound is largely developed from recordings of poetry readings. The voice material's timbre, rhythm and energy seizes the development of the different parts of the music, and creates an audible image of a landscape within and eyond words - an important aspect of Baudelaire's poetry.
- Morten Eide Pedersen
The title "Solitaire" is inspired by the poem "Les Bijoux" from Baudelaire's "Les Fleurs de Mals." The glittering and mesmerizing light from metal and precious stones had its direct, sparkling gestalt in the music. "Solitaire" is the name of the most austere diamond setting, where all of the stone's sides are open and refract light. However, "solitaire" may also be translated as "alone", and this beautiful and glittering timbre landscape may also stir feelings of something both alien and alienated. A "virtual" space where we experience the human voice as it interrupts to pierce this glittering and rushing soundscape, with the effect being one of nakedness and loneliness in an all-encompassing whole. The piece's shimmering and crystalline sound is largely developed from recordings of poetry readings. The voice material's timbre, rhythm and energy seizes the development of the different parts of the music, and creates an audible image of a landscape within and eyond words - an important aspect of Baudelaire's poetry.
- Morten Eide Pedersen