Instrumentation: two-part children’s choir and piano
Here not only the composer, but also the always committed pedagogue Christian Ridil has his say. In the underlying texts by Karlhans Frank, which were kindly made available by the S. Fischer Verlags-GmbH, the humanistic dream of a socially just world in which all people live together in peace and prosperity becomes a two-part chorus with childlike words put in the mouth, which makes this piece, composed in 1982, appear particularly topical and explosive.
For a successful performance, however, one must be aware that, both musically and vocally, a particularly alert children's choir is required, which should be familiar with dealing with complex rhythmic structures.
The first song, with its litany-like enumeration of children's wishes, is a little reminiscent of the opening chorus from Hindemith's children's opera Wir bauen eine Stadt, which many of us must have had in our ears from childhood. In countless contrapuntal entanglements between the vocal parts and the piano accompaniment, the composer primarily uses neoclassical elements and techniques, even various choral quotations are occasionally mentioned.
In the second song of the cycle, a game of marbles in the children's imagination gradually grows into a big, exciting football match, the dynamics of which emerge before our mental eyes in the ever faster recited parlando of the choir; at the end, the conductor even spontaneously slips into the role of the referee, who sounds the final with appropriate hand movements and the whistle. What a delicious and humorous trick!!
There are also echoes of jazz here. The third and last Song from the future, almost mystical-futuristic in the instrumental introduction, reflects the current world, which is characterized by injustice and social abuses, from the perspective of an imaginary, better, future world. For this purpose, the composer uses a clear rhythmic change into the dance-like, in which a hearty ragtime concludes this magical little cycle.
Martin Schmeck
Note: The sound files are intended for experienced musicians and orchestra leaders to get a first impression of the style of a composition. Synthetic sound generators, which do not aim to satisfy audiophile demands of a music consumer, were used as a basis.
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