Laudi d'amore

Composer laureate of the Netherlands, Willem Jeths is one of the most awarded and successful European composers of recent generations. Jeths rarely appears in the United States, and we are thrilled to feature him, in person, and his music this season. Trained in multiple music disciplines in Utrecht and Amsterdam, Jeths draws on the past and attempts to enrich it through experimentation. “My music is about extremes: strict purity versus distortion, loud against soft.” While his music is rich in tone color, Jeths is extremely economical with his musical material. He meticulously works out timbral effects, often calling for playing techniques unused in the West and creatively incorporating novel sound sources: toy instruments, breaking glass, dripping water. He has received numerous commissions from leading ensembles around the world, including the Concertgebouw, Kronos String Quartet, and the Osaka Symphony Orchestra.
Composed in 2016, Laudi d’Amore or “Hymn to Love” is a song cycle for baritone and violin on three Italian poems: two texts by Gandolfo Cascio and one by Elio Pecora. With echoes of the Orpheus myth, Jeths’ cycle provides an intimate portrait of two lovers, centering on their fear of losing each other and the fear of being rejected. It is also about the limitless desire to be loved and to have a companion who understands and will always be with you. Jeths made the conscious choice to use orchestration to enhance the duality of the overall message. The contrast between male voice and solo violin is striking, yet both are intensely lyrical. Poetry effuses from the baritone throughout, whereas the violin becomes the other “beloved one” who will “sing” without words. Laudi d’Amore is a sequel to Monument to a Universal Marriage. But tonight Laudi functions as a prequel, in that Monument will be presented this coming Thursday. Both performances are American premieres.

(c) Jason Stell