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A Picture of the World (Ein Bild der Welt)
Vocal score
978-0-19-337846-9
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Paperback
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05 May 2005
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This item is printed to order and supplied on a firm sale basis. Items which are printed to order are normally despatched and charged within 5-10 days.
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for counter-tenor, clarinet in A, and 16-part SATB choir
The piece sets extracts from the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, and is made up of six choral movements, including a substantial solo role for countertenor. Between these movements come five interludes for solo clarinet. Wittgenstein himself played the instrument, so here is a different projection of aspects of the philosopher. The countertenor's part may be sung in English or German. Forces or CategoryCounter-tenor, clarinet in A, & 16-part SATB choirDuration23
minutesDifficultyModerately difficult to DifficultProgramme NotesFor counter-tenor, clarinet, and sixteen-part SATB choir.
I. Quite slow
Interlude I
II. Quasi recit., poco flessibile
Interlude II
III. Gently flowing
Interlude III
IV. Very animated
Interlude IV
V. Very slow, sustained and intense
Interlude V
VI. Quite slow, spacious
In setting extracts from the philosopher Ludwig Wittgensteins Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus I have tried to make clear in musical terms what I understand (or hope I
understand!) to be its central, surprisingly simple, thesis. There is a logical structure to the world and to language, but there are limits to what can properly and logically be expressed in words; beyond lies the mystical, the inexpressible. Perhaps music, of all things, can best lead us from language to areas of feeling and thought where language itself becomes helpless. The compressed, beautiful poetry of much of the Tractatus lends itself unexpectedly well to music, and I hope that I have, at least in part, shown what cannot be said.
The piece is made up of six choral movements, including a substantial solo role for countertenor, a part written especially for Michael Chance. At times the soloist may be imagined as the thinker with his ideas forming in the choral textures that
surround his line; elsewhere he may be the impatient teacher with a chorus of students trying to grasp his meaning. Between these movements come five interludes for solo clarinet. Wittgenstein himself played the instrument, so here is a different projection of aspects of the philosopher. In the final, mostly wordless, movement, the clarinet takes over from the solo voice, playing with the choir for the first time, until the countertenor joins again for the very final movement.
A Picture of the World was commissioned by the BBC, for the BBC Singers, to mark the 50th anniversary of the death of Wittgenstein. The music was written between summer 2000 and May 2001.
© Anthony Powers 2001
Reproduced by permission of Oxford University Press
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Anthony Powers (b.1953) Born in London in 1953, Anthony Powers studied at Oxford, in Paris with Nadia Boulanger, and at York with David Blake and Bernard Rands. He taught for two years at Dartington College of Arts before being appointed Composer-in-Residence to Southern Arts. Since then he has moved to Herefordshire where he continues to divide his time between composing and teaching, currently at Cardiff University, where he has been Professor of composition since 2004.
Powers's music is characterized by strong architectonic frameworks that support a language of poetic intensity and magical sonorities. His music often takes its inspiration from the tension between different states, be they physical properties, landscapes, seasons or emotions.Anthony Powers at Cardiff University
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The specification in this catalogue, including without limitation price, format, extent, number of illustrations, and month of publication, was as accurate as possible at the time the catalogue was compiled. Occasionally, due to the nature of some contractual restrictions, we are unable to ship a specific product to a particular territory. Jacket images are provisional and liable to change before publication.
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