(SW 1069)

Instrumentation: Mixed chorus (SATB) – alto recorder (or flute), guitar ad. lib., 2 violins, viola, cello & double bass.

For this work, the composer received first prize in 1989 for a tender by the Ostdeutscher Kulturrat. At the time, they were looking for a song cantata about a folk tune from one of the expulsion areas for mixed chorus and instruments.

The ten short verses of the Masurian folk song on which it is based appear as a series of variations, which at the end leads to an impressive double canon and is then divided into two main blocks by a guitar intermezzo.

Ridil juxtaposes the four-part chorus with an instrumental ensemble consisting of alto recorder, guitar, string quartet and double bass.

The tune is in the aeolian mode, i.e. in natural minor. The composer chooses E minor as the basic key, which is also ideal for the central guitar solo in terms of position. Both the chorus and the instrumental movement are partly polyphonic and partly homophonic. Sometimes the vocal and instrumental parts are interwoven contrapuntal, sometimes the latter takes on more of an accompanying function.

The intermezzo for solo guitar musically reflects on the mood of the first verse block and at the same time leads into the second part. The alto recorder, which can optionally be replaced by a concert flute, is structurally more of a soloist and has the first and last word in the piece.

Martin Schmeck

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