• vn + choirchoir
  • choirchoir
  • Violin
  • 10 min
  • Belle Van Zuylen and Jessica Duchen
  • English

Programme Note

When the Groot Omroepkoorʼs (Netherlandʼs Radio Choir) Chief Conductor Benjamin Goodson and Stiftfestivalsʼ violinist-director Daniel Rowland approached me to write a piece for them, I immediately googled “Dutch poets”. I was intrigued to find the French-sounding name, Isabelle de Charrière (1740 – 1805). Also known as Belle van Zuylen, she was born and brought up in Utrecht, where the premiere of this new composition would take place.

In the 18th century, it was common for well-to-do families to appoint French tutors for their children and, as a result, everything Belle wrote was in that language. Her writings cover all aspects of life and love, but I was particularly drawn to these two poems.

1. Companion, for which I have taken three verses from her longer poem ‘Heureux moineaux’, tells of her envy at how much easier sparrowsʼ relationships with each other are than those between humans. The poem was Belleʼs reaction to hearing of the philandering Marquis de Lassay, inspiring her to express that “it is good to flee from love and to prefer a less jealous, less worrisome friendship”. The violin sets the scene, imitating authentic sparrow calls from Californian, Argentinian and Spanish sparrows and the choir enters, taking the sparrowsʼ rhythms and harmonizing the pitch progressions. Here, the English words feature alongside the original French as a bird-like accompaniment.

2. Conquest, or ‘Quels accents vien-je dʼentendre’ is a beautifully structured and intensely passionate poem, written as a song for Mademoiselle de Tuyll de Serooskerken, elder daughter of Lord of Zuylen. It was originally set to the air: ‘Vous amants, que jʼintéresse’ – possibly a pre-existing tune or one composed by Belle herself. I have relished creating overtly romantic harmonies with restless textures in English accompanying the yearning melody in French. The violin alternates between accompanying them in lilting broken chords and soaring ardently over the choir.

I am deeply grateful to both Benjamin and Daniel for asking me to do this and to AVROTROS and the Stiftfestival for commissioning the work, on the occasion of Benjaminʼs inaugural concert as the choirʼs Chief Conductor.

Roxanna Panufnik (8 June, 2020)

For lyrics please see Links

Scores

Reviews

I were very happy to see this beautiful review on Bachtrack for last week’s premiere at the Concertgebouw of Roxanna Panufnik’s Songs of love and friendship, that the Stiftfestival commissioned together with AVROTROS. :)) 

” Relatively  unusual was the addition of a single violin part to these a cappella songs. Actually, this polyphonic choral work should have crowned the first concert of the new GOK chief conductor Benjamin Goodson last autumn. Due to the corona, however, this was not possible due to the large number of people. Violinist Daniel Rowland met Panufnik during his time as the first violinist of the Brodsky Quartet and, together with Goodson, was the inspiration for this unusual composition. 

In the belated premiere, Rowland bewitched with the sound of a violin in the role of a musical commentator. In the first song, Companion, Panufnik clearly instructs him to play the song of a swallow as realistically as possible with high, short interval jumps. Swallows seem to sing a little differently in each country, he says. When, after his introductory solo, the sopranos, which began as delicate as a gold wire mesh, took over his melody, time stood still in the venerable Concertgebouw. Because of its floating harmony and wave-like rhythms, Panufnik’s music is otherwise rather tense and restless. In Conquest, Rowland’s double stops were the sounding equivalent of the melting together of two lovers “ce soupir si doux, si tendre”. Panufnik’s love song sighed and languished with great passion. This successful premiere was convincing proof that the Dutch radio choir has blossomed brilliantly under its new chief conductor.

(Source: Wonderful Roxanna Panufnik review - Daniel Rowland)

Daniel Rowland, Internet Daniel Rowland
August 2021