LAURENT
METTRAUX
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CH-1791 Courtaman (Switzerland),
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for orchestra, M.662 (2007)
After an excerpt taken from the book of the Apocalypse
Commissioned
by Pro Helvetia for the
LISTEN TO THE WORK :
SCORE EXCERPT : 4’49’’ to 7’31’’ of the audio recording
Interpretation :
, conducted by Winfried
Toll
(recorded on June 8th,
2008, at the Sendesaal Hessischer
Rundfunk of Frankfurt am Main)
Duration of the work :
approximately 10’15
Work
description
When the Basel Sinfonietta got in touch with me
concerning an orchestral work, it had been decided that its theme was to be
near to that of the other work on the programme, the Requiem by Verdi. Thus, I
have chosen the book of the Apocalypse, and it is the character of the 4th
Rider that caught my attention :
And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice
of the fourth living creature saying: Come.
I looked, and behold, a pale horse: and he that sat upon him, his name was Death. And hell followed him. And power was given them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with famine, with pestilence, and with the wild beasts of the earth.
(Apocalypse 6 : 7-8)
This composition is not a mere description of this
passage of the Apocalypse, but also describes the frightful atmosphere of the
arrival of Death and evokes the sensations of terror it inspires. In order to
obtain this, the work uses all the potentialities of the orchestra, among
which, at some places, strange sounds. The dramatic tension is ensured by the
opposition between, on one hand, the dynamism of the baneful action of the
Rider and of his lightning ride, and, on the other hand, the anguished awaiting
and the static pictures of the desolation following the sudden arise of Death.
Laurent Mettraux