Programmatoelichting 'De Materie'

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nl Programmatoelichting 'De Materie'

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en Program notes 'De Materie'

nl Programmatoelichting 'De Materie'

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Louis Andriessen

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en It was during a concert in Copenhagen in January 1981 that an idea started to germinate in Louis Andriessen’s mind that was eventually to lead to a four-part-music-theatre work entitled De Materie (Matter), which was directed by Robert Wilson and premiered in 1989. During the same concert Andriessen decided that the double-bass and the contrabassoon, despite being traditionally associated with different instrumental families, belong in fact to the same family by the very nature of their material form: in the first place they are both made of wood. Matter, as a philosophical concept and a Marxist, artistic, and scientific notion, inspired the composer between 1984 and 1988 to write musical essays which are different enough both in terms of composition and content to sustain the musical tension throughout a whole evening, while at the same time revealing sufficient constants to be experienced as a unity. These constants are primarily found in the work’s musical style and dramaturgy. The musical style is a synthesis of the extremes experienced in all levels of Andriessen’s output: ranging from reason versus instinct, constructivism versus spontaneity, doctrine versus entertainment, concert hall versus theatre. Illustrative of the inclusive character of the work, in which the “upper” and the “lower” state of class-ridden musical society are inextricably intermeshed, are the growling triplets of the bass and contrabass clarinets which roam about the hallowed sound world of the vision of Hadewijch (the 13th century poetess from Brabant) like stray dogs in the church interiors of old Dutch paintings. The dramaturgy is that of a tableau vivant, peopled by (mainly Dutch) historical figures; they sing their own historical words thereby continually throwing new light on the subjects. These figures are united by their scientific, religious, artistic, and political idealism, as well as their common willingness to pay the price exacted by their ideals. In Part I, Gorleaus, the early 17th century philosopher who died a young age, reinstates the ancient Greek theory of atomism. In Part II, Hadewijch sings the praises of the unio mystica in music rooted in a rational compositional architecture based on the proportions of a cathedral dating from the same century. Both Part II and Part III, “De Stijl” (The Style), suggest that despite its title De Materie is mainly concerned with the limits of rationality. In “De Stijl”, whose form and instrumentation were modeled on Mondrian’s Composition with Red, Yellow and Blue, the emphasis is on the metaphysical inspiration of Neo-Plasticism. Finally Part IV once again takes up the themes of science, this time personified by Madame Curie, but also the themes of love and death as expressed by the Dutch symbolist poet Willem Kloos. Musically speaking Parts II, III and IV begins where Parts I, II and III end. The transition from I to II rests on a common tempo, the transition from II and III on a common melody, and the transition from III to IV on a common harmony. De Materie could be freely interpreted as a symphony in four movements with two slow movements and a genuine scherzo (Part III). Andriessen’s use of historical musical references in his work is characteristic, but equally typical is the way he radically alienates these references. Thus Part I, which transports the listener to a 17th century Dutch shipyard and contains an extended duet for two hammerers, is probably the most literal toccata ever written, whereas Part III juxtaposes the outward features of a boogie-woogie, funk-like bass, and rap, with elements taken from “high” art such as the passacaglia and the traditional B-A-C-H motif. The sense of freedom that pervades the music of De Materie, however, is founded on strict rules, which are sometimes audible and sometimes not, but can always be sensed. The application of these rules has a bearing not so much on the pitch structure as on the architecture of the work. And although De Materie is based on a single, tonally definable, chord consisting of a second, a third, and a fourth (F – B flat – C – E which the composers calls the 1-2-3-4 chord), the melody and harmonic coherence of the work is not the outcome of a strictly methodical working process. And the fact that the tonic triads of the four keys which characterize the four Parts – E-flat minor, F minor, G major and A major, respectively – together make up the twelve tones of an octave, is an analytical conclusion made in hindsight. Part IV for female speaker, 8 voices and large ensemble was composed in 1988. Text: Excerpts from two of Willem Kloos’s sonnets, from Madame Curie’s diary, and from the acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize in 1911 taken from Francoise Giroude’s “Une Femme Honorable”. The text of Madame Curie, which Andriessen initially thought unsuitable, was the idea of the director Robert Wilson. The musical material develops very gradually out of two endlessly repeated chords into a monumental, pavane-like final dance in which reference is made both to spirit and, occasionally, to the letter of the Pavane for Piano in 1927 written by the composer’s father Hendrik Andriessen (1892-1981). The music leads, via an extended through-composed, crescendo in a slow hocket-like alternation of sumptuous chords, to the new and slower tempo of the only vocal episode in this part – an ecstatic setting of the tercents from two sonnets by Willem Kloos (1859-1936) about death, love, and longing. The opening chord of this section (which is also the fundamental chord of the complete work) sounds once more and is repeated twice, after which Madame Curie (1867-1934) delivers a monologue in which she mourns the death of her husband Pierre and reads aloud a fragment from the speech she gave on being awarded the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1911. Elmer Schönberger (translated by Nicoline Gatehouse) in: Warsaw Autumn 2000

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De Materie

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