01F0F9C5-0559-4D79-9439-E888FF28CAD6
| ID | 01F0F9C5-0559-4D79-9439-E888FF28CAD6 |
|---|---|
| Titlecode | X815404 |
| Title Name | Käthe Kollwitz for Soprano and String Quartet |
| Marketing Copy | Inspired by the art of Käthe Kollwitz in poems by Muriel Rukeyser. |
| Instrumentation | Soprano and String Quartet |
| Commission | Commissioned by Julia Adams for the 30th anniversary of the Portland String Quartet. |
| Dedication | (not set) |
| Program Notes | Kèthe Kollwitz was written in response to a commission from violist Julia Adams for a work celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of the Portland String Quartet in 1998. Julia specifically wanted a large-scale work that the quartet could perform with soprano Christina Astrachan. Given this combination of artists, the idea of composing some sort of "musical portrait," with Christina singing the words (perhaps letters of journal entries) of a real person, immediately came to mind. Several days later, by a stroke of what I now consider to be near-cosmic good fortune, I came across Muriel Rukeyser's haunting Kathe Kollwitz in her 1968 collection The Speed of Darkness. Following Rukeyser's text, the piece is in five parts. All five poems contain imagery taken from Kollwitz's work (gates, poles, children, hands), as well as direct references to specific works (Pieta, Nie Wieder Krieg). Part two quotes extensively from Kollwitz's own journals on matters of life and art and part three makes use of important biographical details. Part five vividly evokes the experience of turning the pages of a book of Kollwitz's work and the resulting time-lapse effect of viewing a lifetime's worth of self-portraits. Throughout, both the poet and her subject make extensive allusions to music. Quite naturally, the music of Kèthe Kollwitz is as much a response to the poems themselves as it is to the art and artist that they reflect, quote and comment upon. In composing this work, I came to feel that while the vocal line was the voice of the poet, the voice of Kollwitz herself could be heard in the writing for the quartet. My goal has been to compose a work in which lines of poetry, lines of music and the lyrical, terrifying lines of Kollwitz's beloved etchings, woodcuts and lithographs might interlace across time and, in Muriel Rukeyser's beautiful words, "make an art harder than bronze." --Tom Myron |
| Title Brand | 2 |
| Year Composed | 1998 |
| Copyright Number | (not set) |
| Copyright Year | (not set) |
| Duration | 27 |
| Ensemble Size | (not set) |
| Date Created | 2010-03-19 20:33:25.000000 |
| Date Updated | 2025-09-30 20:33:25 |
| Inhouse Note | Replaces inactive rental item. |
| Bsc Code | (not set) |
| Text Author | Poems by Muriel Rukeyser |
| Premier Performance Memo | -World Premiere. Portland Symphony Wind Quintet. 04 Oct 1998. |
| Recording Credits | (not set) |
| Review | "...Kaethe Kollwitz refers to the German artist whose etchings, woodcuts and lithographs make such a spare and unnerving impact. The works are by Muriel Rukeyser whose five part poem makes up the five songs of this cycle for soprano and string quartet. This music has the air of a work either knowingly or unconsciously written for dramatic soprano and full orchestra. It is dramatic stuff with lyrical moments of refuge from turmoil--hectic with activity. Barber's Knoxville comes to mind occasionally..." --Rob Barnett, MusicWeb(UK) |
| Awards | (not set) |
| Title Category | 12 |
| Title Movements | (not set) |
| Title Grade | (not set) |
| Set Series ID | (not set) |
| Title Instrument Category Text | High Voice |
| Title Sub Category Text | (not set) |
| Title Sub Category | 17 |
| Title Instrument Header | 72 |
| Title Grade Text | (not set) |
| Clean Url | kthe-kollwitz-for-soprano-and-string-quartet-x815404 |