Commissioned by: Antonia Ringborg, for her Foundation.
Goal: Christmas Music to help organize concerts to collect funds for refugees.
Arrangements: 2 piano’s, bassoon / 1 piano, bassoon, alto clarinet / 1 piano, trombone, alto horn / 1 piano, bassoon /
People that inspire
The work and life of lyricist Jochen Klepper, he wrote the lyrics for the song ‘Die Nacht ist vorgedrungen’.
Musical Inspiration
- Es ist ein Ros entsprungen,
- Gloria in Excelsis Deo
- Stille Nacht
- Die Nacht ist vorgedrungen
- Alle jaren weder
- Deck the Halls
- Oh come, Oh come, Emmanuel.
- The hopeful sound of The New World by Dvorak.
- “Der Weihnachtswolf”. A former work for Wind-band.
Poetry as inspiration.
Busoni and Hemmingway, combined in this poem:
This Child
This child, it floats on air.
It’s feet won’t touch the earth,
This child feels beauty,
forthcomingly takes risks.
is disciplined to tell the truth.
This child knows no gravitation
they hang weights upon it.
This buoyant creature is scarcely allowed to leap….
It is often wounded,
It is sometimes destroyed.
This child set out the Dimensions of Sacrifice.
For it’s joy is to follow
the line of the rainbow,
and to break sunbeams with the clouds.
(Busoni, Hemmingway, me)
Video Inspiration
Form Studies used for this composition
Two visual art-forms inspired the FORM is this work:
- The timing and images of this video, made by sand-artist Immauel Boie. Immanuel explores the connection between the Christmas Story, “A child is born”, and the Easter Story, “A Son is lost”. The direct visual drawing from Christmas child into Easter adult by a few strokes in the sand is extremely powerful.
- Paper-art: Collage. Where existing images are cut out and all the pieces form a new image.
- Experimenting with the effect of music on visuals by repeating the video with different music. I called this experiment Black and White Christmas, trying to write Dark Music to Light images and vice versa.
The Story: The House with the Empty Chairs
I develop my music in a phantasy world, which you can explore on the Map of Miracles. In this world, there is an eternal Christmas market. In the middle of that market, next to the giant Christmas tree, is a house: The house with the empty chairs. The door of this house is always open, there is always a place to sit down at an enormous Christmas Banquet.
This House is the center of Christmas, this is the House of Hope. The Music and video illustrate the Story of this House.
The only one, who is always there, is the lonesome Christmas Wolf . A soft snow white warm animal, resting near the fireplace. His theme is Heard in this Christmas Music, as are many more we already know and some we still have to recognize. (Der Weihnachtswolf, wind orchestra, 2018).
Arrangements and sheet-music
Instrumentation: Harp, piano, F-tuba/euphonium
Instrumentation: 2 piano’s, 1 bass-instrument
Instrumentation: 1 piano, Bassoon
Instrumentation: 1 Piano, Bassoon, alto clarinet
Instrumentation: 1 Piano, Trombone, alto horn.