BESTIARIUS
for alto / mezzo-soprano and ensemble
Duration:
11 minutes
Instrumentation:
alto / mezzo-soprano, flute/piccolo, clarinet,
bassoon, violin, percussion (2), harpsichord
Year Composed:
1995
Poems By:
Dan Pagis
Poems Included:
1. The Elephant
2. Armchairs
3. The Mosquito
Language:
Hebrew
Written For:
Ayelet Carmon
Premiere Performance:
7 July, 1996
Jerusalem, Israel
Ayelet Carmon, mezzo-soprano
Roni Shifrin, flute/piccolo
Roni Barak, clarinet
Eyal Street, bassoon
Michael Zuckerman, violin
Dafna Gan, harpsichord
Pamela Jones and Alex Nemirovsky, percussion
Lior Navok, conductor
Program Notes:
The Bestiarius, was a common book back in the middle ages. It contained illustrations of animals, some real, some imaginary. The phoenix for example, was introduced through the Bestiaries. In his Bestiaries Israeli poet Dan Pagis, introduces six “animal” poems, from which I chose three.The text which is full with humor, gave me the opportunity to compose music that for most of the time creates a bold contrast to the written word.
Alto and Ensemble | Mezzo-Soprano and Ensemble | vocal music in Hebrew