Marek Kopelent: Kopelent: Black and White Tears

The composer himself commented on the repertoire of his profile CD as follows:

CD 1 (vocal music)

Lament of a Woman, a composition for an actress, seven brass instruments, 14 female voices and a small children's choir (1980), conveys the difficult situation of a mature woman. The first part of the dramatic monologue is based on my text, the catharsis is a setting of the poem Lásko, zůstaň by Markéta Procházková.

Le chant du merle au détenu for mezzo-soprano, flute, accordion and piano to poems by Jan Zahradníček (1991). The composition was written for the French chansonnier of politically engaged programmes Irene Jarsky. That is why I also translated Jan Zahradníček's poem into French (with the cooperation of the poet Yves Bergeret, former cultural attaché in Prague). The poem is from the collection House of Fear, which the poet wrote in a communist prison.

Black and White Tears for solo voice (1972) is a composition originally written for the singer Sigune von Osten. It can be understood as a psychological monodrama of a singing being who struggles in her imagination with the dark shadow.

Snehah for soprano, jazz alto (from a recording) and chamber ensemble (1967) is a work closely associated with the ensemble Musica viva Pragensis. The content and form are based on the Persian quatrain Abu Sa'ida, which can be understood as a possible image of erotic - fraternal - spiritual love. The basis of the jazz singer's vocal part in the first part are terms expressing love in various oriental languages (taptal, durlal, chubb, pjár or tiň jeu, jaraton, etc. ). The basis of the middle part is the soprano's part with the words snehah (Sanskrit) and ahava (Hebrew), while in the third part she sings only on vocals.

Nénie with Flute for the late Hana Hlavsová for flute, nine female voices and chamber orchestra (1960-61) is my first publicly performed work in the New Music style. It was inspired by the death of a gifted young musicologist. At the climax of the piece there is also a sine wave generator, which was a novelty in classical music in the Czech context at that time.

Agnus Dei for soprano and chamber ensemble (1983) was first performed at the Musica Sacra Nürnberg festival by soprano Sigune von Osten and the ensemble in 1983. It is an ecumenical work in its mission, the moving liturgical text is commented with dramatic extracts from the works of the church reformer Martin Luther.

CD 2 (instrumental music)

Meditations, a composition for chamber orchestra (1966), was commissioned by the Südwestfunk in Baden-Baden for the prestigious New Music Festival in Donaueschingen, Germany. Listening to the piece, one can observe its form in the form of an arc - a rising and gradual, variable fading of sound.

Still Life for chamber ensemble (1968) was created for the performance of the Musica viva Pragensis ensemble at the Donaueschingen Festival. The backbone of the work is the singing of the viola, passing in slight variations from one tone to the next of the 12 tones of the chromatic scale and ending with a repeated opening tone. The colourful accompaniment, including suggested singing by the players, creates a whole ensemble augmented by the cymbal.

Sonata (Veronica's Veil) for eleven string instruments (1973) was commissioned by the Festival for New Chamber Music in Witten, Germany. The inspiration of the Shroud of Turin is translated in the first movement (A) into a surface with a variable structure from which the dominant C major seventh chord G7 (the face of Christ) suddenly emerges; the third movement (A1) returns to this principle, but the structure gives way to a brilliant C major chord. The middle part (B) is based on the intermingling of three bands: The accompanying steps to the melody that is missing ( someone has disappeared...), the gradual increase of the chant and the whispered prayer.

Veiled voice above the surface of calm for trumpet solo and chamber orchestra (2000). The inspiration for this composition was the exhibition of Chinese painter Chiu Sh-Chu at the Rudolfinum Gallery, whose paintings are captivated by their sheer whiteness, from which the outlines of trees or buildings stand out in the same colour as in a natural scenery filled with dense fog.

A Few Minutes with an Oboist, concerto galante for oboe solo and chamber ensemble (1972) is a work originally written for the Aspen Festival (USA), finally performed at the Witten Festival by oboist Pierre W. Feit, then the famous oboist and composer Heinz Holliger, and finally, after many years in Prague, the excellent Vilém Veverka. The composition is characterized by colour, vividness and complexity.

Playlist

The Lament of a Woman / What the Blackbird Sang to the Arrested Man / Black and White Tears / Snow / Nénie with a Flute for the Deceased Hana Hlavsová
Agnus Dei
Part I. / Part II. / Meditations. Composition for chamber orchestra / Still life for chamber ensemble / Sonata (Veronica's veil) / Veiled voice above the surface of calm / Several minutes with oboist