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------ch--g ---ch--g

Composer:

Fabian Svensson

Text:

Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer

Instrumentation:

Low male voice, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, trombone, percussion, electric guitar, piano

Year of composition:

2009

Duration:

3'

Program note:

In 2009, I was invited by Ensemble Klang to participate in a project exploring how non-Dutch people hear the Dutch language. 10 composers of different nationalities were commissioned to write a short piece each, all based on the same text, a poem by Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer. I decided to focus on what in my ears is the most prominent feature of the Dutch language, the velar fricative sounds (as in the words dag or nacht). I extracted all occurrences of such sounds from the text and discarded the rest of it.
Since the number 88 (achtentachtig) is featured very prominently in the text, I saw a connection to the 88 keys of the piano, that seemed worth exploiting. The piano, therefore, plays a sequence of 88 notes during the piece, every piano key being used once.

Performances:

11th Oct 2009
Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ (Amsterdam, the Netherlands)
Peter Scheele and Ensemble Klang
6th Feb 2010
Provadja Theater (Alkmaar, the Netherlands)
Peter Scheele and Ensemble Klang

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