Z&Ed Piet J. SWERTS Six Metamorphoses after Covid for Oboe Solo ZECMS08
Piet Jozef Swerts Six Metamorphoses after Covid for Oboe Solo 1. Terra Flexa 2. Schola Nova 3. Iso Latus 4. Curator Fortis 5. Techna Virtus 6. Mundi Spiritus Zodiac Editions
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for Bram Nolf
FOREWORD Bram Nolf is oboist of the Belgian National Orchestra and appealed to me about Benjamin Britten's famous Metamorphoses. Musicians sometimes tend to make humorous remarks about compositions, and so in Britten's title 'after Ovid' quickly became 'after Covid.' Which, however, nurtured Nolf the idea of effectively commissioning a new work modelled on Britten's but inspired by the pandemic. So effectively 'after Covid'. To this end, he contacted Danny Devriendt to create a framework analogous to Britten's form but related to the corona theme. Devriendt drew on the main post-covid trends described by IPG/dynamic: hybrid work, virtual learning, social distancing, frontline heroes, digital transformation, and global solidarity. Thus, Devriendt came up with the 6 global post Covid trends: 1. Hybrid Work: Capturing the shift from traditional office work to a blend of remote and in-office work, reflecting the balance and sometimes the dissonance between home and office life. 2. Virtual Learning: Illustrating the challenges and innovations in education as schools and universities move to online platforms. 3. Social Distancing: Expressing the isolation and the new ways people learned to connect while physically apart. 4. Frontline Heroes: A tribute to healthcare workers and other essential workers who faced the pandemic head-on, often at great personal risk. 5. Digital Transformation: Depicting the rapid adoption of digital technologies in various sectors including retail, healthcare, and entertainment. 6. Global Solidarity: Representing the shared experiences of people worldwide, the tragedies and the triumphs, and the sense of a global community united in a common cause. For each of these 6 trends, he came up with 6 fictional "gods": Terra Flexa, Schola Nova, Iso Latus, Curator Fortis, Techna Virtus and Mundi Spiritus. As in Britten's score, he devised an explanatory, evocative phrase for each "god", which, while giving info in a poetic way, never tells the full story. 1. Hybrid Work à "Terra Flexa": "who dances between screens and dreams, balancing home and horizon." 2. Virtual Learning à "Schola Nova": "who navigates streams of digital wisdom in a quest for enlightenment." 3. Social Distancing à "Iso Latus": "who stretches hands in void, seeking warmth in the cold distance." 4. Frontline Heroes à "Curator Fortis": "who stands steadfast against the unseen foe, healing with hands and heart." 5. Digital Transformation à "Techna Virtus": "who weaves the web of a new world, binding byte to life." 6. Global Solidarity à "Mundi Spiritus": "who, in whispered breaths of unity, kindles the flame of shared destiny.” This became the basis of this commission where the idea arose to alternately combine Britten's work with my 'version' during the performance. I am an ardent admirer of Britten's works: his approach to tonality is unique and authentic. Without falling into clichés, his music sounds modern yet expressive and he has managed to find a personal style based on this dilated tonality. Of course, I have listened through his Metamorphoses, but this has not effectively influenced my composition, nor the idea that the two works could be combined. I believe that 'my' Metamorphoses dare to go much further and perhaps go to the extremes of virtuosity, but that they created equally tonal lyrical landscapes that in turn reflect more my personal language. The given 'corona' therefore inspired more of a contrast between the stable and unstable, the certain and uncertain, the tonal and the atonal spectrum. This new work is also more expansive than Britten's work. It is certainly an option to perform Britten's Metamorphoses bracketed with mine, but this is not explicitly a must. Piet J. Swerts, 20th of January 2024.
9:8 = 60 3 9:8 5 6 5 8 11 12 3 3 3 poco meno 14 I. Terra Flexa who dances between screens and dreams, balancing home and horizon. © ZODIACEDITIONS 2024 | international copyright reserved Solemn but resolute Six Metamorphoses after Covid for Oboe Solo Piet Jozef SWERTS [2024] for Bram Nolf like in a French baroque Overture very abruptly like a divertimento
5 10 7:8 7 7 7 12 rall. tempo primo 15 simile 20 7 7 7 23 7 rall. a tempo 26 II. Schola Nova who navigates streams of digital wisdom in a quest of enlightenment. © ZODIACEDITIONS 2024 | international copyright reserved = 132 3 with energy but with some lightness freely like a cadenza =78 = 78 * * (the upbeat remains in the initial tempo)
6:4 6:4 3:2 6 3 3 6:4 6 6:4 6:4 3:2 6 8 3 10 5 6 5 non legato 13 6:4 6:4 6:4 III. Iso Latus who stretches hands in void, seeking warmth in the cold distance. © ZODIACEDITIONS 2024 | international copyright reserved = 86 5 Like a lament with disruptions
cantabile 6 12 18 24 30 36 IV. Curator Fortis who stands steadfast against the unseen foe, healing with hands and heart [Danny Devriendt] © ZODIACEDITIONS 2024 | international copyright reserved Solemn like a hymn = 60 7
6 6 6 6 6 6 3 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 6 6 6 6 6 6 7 6 6 6 6 6 6 9 6 6 6 6 6 6 11 6 6 6 6 6 6 13 6 3 3 3 3 3 6 6 V. Techna Virtus who weaves the web of a new world, being byte to life. © ZODIACEDITIONS 2024 | international copyright reserved = 100 9
3 8 3 3 3 3 12 16 5 3 3 19 26 30 3 VI. Mundi Spiritus who, inspired breaths of unity, kindles the flame of shared destiny. © ZODIACEDITIONS 2024 | international copyright reserved 11 With a certain distinction = 72
Swerts, Piet Jozef (b. November 14, 1960, Tongeren) is a Belgian composer, conductor, and pianist of international acclaim; his large catalogue includes stage, orchestral, chamber, choral, vocal, and piano works. Dr. Swerts studied from 1974-89 at the Leuven College of Arts (LUCA) Campus Lemmens in Leuven, where he obtained ten first prizes and for the first time in the history of the same institute the special Prize Lemmens Tinel for composition and piano with great distinction. Among his teachers were Alan Weiss (USA) and Robert Groslot. Since1982, he is Associated Professor of Composition and Orchestration at the same Institute, now Department of Drama and Music associated with the Catholic University of Leuven. He has been invited as guest professor in the Sweelinck Conservatory, Amsterdam, Netherlands, in the Department of Electronic Music at the University of Huddersfield, UK, the Polytechnic Institute in Castelo Branco, Portugal, as well as in the Polytechnic Institute North Karelia, Conservatory of Joensuu, Finland, the Conservatory of Barcelona, Spain, the Western Connecticut State University, Danbury, the University of Iowa. As a composer, he has received more than ten awards, including the Baron Flor Peeters Prize (1983) for Apocalyps I and the Prize of the Belgian Artistic Promotion (1985) for the song Ardennes. He has also received the SABAM Prize(1986) for his Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rotations), which was chosen as a compulsory concerto during the finals of the International Queen Elisabeth Competition later that year. Other awards include the Camille Huysmans Composition Prize (1986) for Dream pictures and the Prize for Composition of the Province Limburg (1986) for Capriccio for guitar and chamber orchestra. In addition, he has received the Silver Trophy of the Cultural Youth Passport Belgium-Netherlands (1988) as a promising young artist, the Prize of the Gazet van Antwerpen (newspaper) (1989) for Symphony No. 1 and the Prize for Composition of the Province Brabant (1993) for a choral work. During the summer of 1981, he participated in a composition summer course with Witold Lutoslawski and Vladimir Kotonsky in Poland. From 1985 until 2005, he conducted the Ensemble for Contemporary Music at the Institute and since then, he mostly worked on the base of commissions. Among commissioners are the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Flanders, the Symphony Orchestra of Flanders, the Opera of Antwerp, the Radio Orchestra, European Brass Band Championships, l’Orchestre de Strassbourg, Rubio String quartet, Gaggini Quartet, Flanders Recorder Quartet, the International Queen Elisabeth competition and many others. In 1993, his violin concerto Zodiac was selected from 154 participations from 28 countries as the compulsory concerto for the finals of the International Queen Elisabeth Competition for Violin. For this piece, he received the Grand Prix in the International Queen Elisabeth Composition Competition, 1993 (the first Belgian composer to win the prize). Included in the jury at the competition that year were Henryk Górecki and Franco Donatoni. In the same year, a double CD of the world première performance of Passio Domini Nostri Jesu Christi Secundum Marcum for four soloists, chorus and large orchestra (composed in 1988- 89 and first performed in 1993) was released. In 1994, the international organization Jaycies awarded him as one of the Ten Outstanding Young People. Dr. Swerts has been invited as a guest-conductor in Austria, the Czech Republic, France, the Netherlands, Poland, and China, where he conducted the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra in 1994 with his own works. In October 2005, he was guest conductor of the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra in Caracas, Venezuela, where he conducted 3 full programs of Belgian music, including his own compositions. In 2019 he conducted the Radio and TV orchestra in Tirana, Albania with his double concerto Passions. In December 1996-January 1997, his opera Les liaisons dangereuses was premièred by the Flemish Opera (who
commissioned it) in Ghent and Antwerp. In the magazine, Opera Now (UK), it was hailed as one of the most remarkable events of that season. In January 1997, there was a CD release by Eufoda devoted to his piano compositions (1985-95), recorded by the composer himself. In September 2000, Symphony No. 2 (Morgenrot) was given its world première to unanimous critical acclaim; his Clarinet Quintet is recorded by the Finnish Tempera String Quartet en Roeland Hendrikx, clarinet for the label In Flanders’ Fields has also been given a successful première. His fifth piano concerto Wings performed and recorded by the composer has received already many performances after the first year of its creation: 4 performances in Germany, December 2004, 3 performances in Japan August 2004, 6 performances in Belgium in 2003, 2 performances in Québec, Canada in April 2005, and performances in Singapore, France 2006, USA december 2005. Dance of Uzume for alto saxophone and concert band was his first commission from Japan from the famous EMI-artist Nobuya Sugawa, recorded in January 2005 by the famous Tokio Kosei Wind Orchestra. A large-scale piece for choir and orchestra Living Stone, a set of 14 pieces and 60 minutes of music to be built in an exposition with the same name and content in the Museum site M in Leuven, from September 2005 until January 2006 has been recorded on CD. In 2006, Kotekan for saxophone and strings has been commissioned by the International Adolphe Sax Association as compulsory concerto during the finals of the competition in November 2006. He played recitals in USA in 2005, 2007, 2010, 2019 and in Ethiopa, Addis Abeba. In 2011, he became Doctor Phd in Arts with the greatest distinction at the Leuven University College of Arts with comparative research of compositional canonic techniques in the L’homme armé Masses of the late 15th Century and contemporary composers who utilized the same melody. In 2012, he composed his 6th Piano concerto ‘Indian Summer’ and was also involved to realize the soundtrack for an international film ‘Atlantic.’ by the Dutch director Jan-Willem Van Ewijk from Amsterdam. In 2013, he was appointed as member of the Royal Academy of Arts of Belgium. In 2014, Vienna Philharmonic harpist Anneleen Lenaerts played the première of his Etoiles for harp and orchestra. In 2016 he received a commission for the National Orchestra of Belgium for a new orchestral work named ‘l’Apogée’. which was premiered in May 2017, Hugh Wolff conducted. In September 2017, his large oratorio ‘Symphony of Trees’ (86’) commissioned by the City of Ypres, was premiered as a commemoration of the First World War in the Cathedral of Ypres with Thomas Blondelle, tenor, Lee Bisset, soprano, a children’s choir of 60 singers, a 280-man mixed choir, two organs and the Flemish Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Angus. Its Cd is released by PHAEDRA. In 2019, commissions led to first performances of Passions, a new Double Concerto for two pianos in Belgium and Nijmegen 2019, Serenata for wind ensemble, commissioned by Il Gardelino, a new Horta Suite for saxophone and piano, commissioned by Arno Bornkamp, presented at the World Congress in Zagreb in 2018. In March 2020, the Roeland Hendrikx Ensemble created his large chamber music cycle Le Bestiaire, for clarinet, piano and string quartet. In June, his Dutch book Principes van de Orkestratie has been published, his adaptation and introduction of Korsakovs book. His Third Symphony Yakara by the Zuidnederlandse Philharmonie has been created in September 2020. His Celloconcerto ‘Sehnsucht’ will be created by the Belgian National Orchestra and Yibai Chen 21th of June 2024 at the Bozar in Brussels and a new commission for Antwerp Symphony Orchestra “Le Tombeau de Josquin” will be created 18th of January 2025. For more information: www.zodiaceditions.com
Hemmerechts around Herman de Coninck's book of poetry of the same name), "The Beasty Boys" (a fauna concert with pianist Luc Devos and biologist Dirk Draulans) have been running, "Obolution" (a lecture-performance on the evolution of the oboe, together with baroque oboist Marcel Ponseele) and "The Magic Flute in a note(n)cap" (a mini-Mozart opera with fellow oboist Piet Van Bockstal and actress Maaike Cafmeyer). Together with four colleagues from the National Orchestra, he forms "5 Beaufort", a woodwind quintet dedicated to the large quintet oeuvre, with a special focus on Belgian composers. In 2008, he was asked by the University of Newcastle Australia to collaborate on a research project on the construction of the oboe reed. This resulted in "the Oboe Reed Making DVD", a now globally distributed documentary VD in which he and several other specialists on the subject give their views on the construction of the oboe reed. Bram Nolf's discography includes Baroque concertos with the Collegium Instrumentale Brugense conducted by Patrick Peire, the complete works for woodwinds by Joseph Jongen with 5 Beaufort and music for oboe solo by British composer Michael Berkeley. His latest CD "Pastoral Melancholie", featuring the main works of the Belgian repertoire for oboe and piano, enjoyed worldwide distribution and unanimous praise in the international specialist press. Bram Nolf holds a teacher position oboe at the Ecole Supérieure des Arts in Mons and LUCA School of Arts in Leuven. BRAM NOLF Oboist Bram Nolf (b. 1970) received his training at the conservatories of Ghent, Rotterdam and Paris. His main teachers were Paul Beelaerts, Emanuel Abbühl and David Walter. During his studies, he was selected for a number of international youth orchestras (Euro Youth Philharmonic, Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, World Youth Orchestra, Shleswig-Holstein Musik Festival Orchester), where he gained orchestral experience under conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Pierre Boulez, Kurt Sanderling and Herbert Blomstedt. Before joining the National Orchestra of Belgium as solo oboist (a position he still holds) in late 1999, Bram Nolf was a core member of Collegium Instrumentale Brugense, I Fiamminghi, I Solisti del Vento, Emanon, Il Novecento, Nederlands Balletorkest and Symfonieorkest Vlaanderen. As a soloist, he tries to perform both the established repertoire and innovative music. In doing so, he has been accompanied by the Collegium Instrumentale Brugense, the Symphony Orchestra of Flanders, I Fiamminghi, Prima la Musica, the Netherlands Ballet Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Belgium and l'Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie, among others. He also performs as a chambrist, often consciously opting for contemporary music and crossover projects. For several years now, for instance, "Met een klank van hobo" (a performance with Kristien