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- Britta Byström
Wir eilen (2022)
- Edition Wilhelm Hansen Copenhagen (World)
Commissioned by Kulturplattform St. Martin e. V. for performance at festival BRANDNEU 2022
Written for the Rieger organ of the Bishop's Church of St. Martin in Kassel, Germany, as part of the BRANDNEU festival in Kassel 2022
Programme Note
Written for the Rieger organ of the Bishop's Church of St. Martin in Kassel, Germany, as part of the BRANDNEU festival in Kassel 2022.
The title of my piece is taken from Johann Sebastian Bach’s beautiful duet for soprano and alto, ”Wir eilen mit schwachen, doch emsigen Schritten” (We hurry with weak yeat eager steps), included in the cantata ”Jesu, der du meine Seele” (BWV 78). I chose the title because I wished to create lively music, running with eager steps. There are no actual quotations from Bach in my piece, but the different parts in my composition imitate and follow each other in the same way. The lively sections are varied by a slow, choral-like music, in which I have tried to use the special features of this fantastic new organ!
The word ”wir” (we) felt natural to use because of the richness of the instrument; even if it is played by one musician, it speaks with many different voices.
Britta Byström