Interludes for Buxtehude, 2010
Category: Vocalfor baroque ensemble
| Instrumentation: | 2 violins, viola d'amore, bass gamba, violone, archlute, organ, vocal group |
| Duration: | 15 min |
| Sections: | Prelude + 6 Interludes. To be performed with Buxtehude's Cantatas "Jesu Membra Nostri". Total duration: 75 min. |
| Premiere: |
March 31, Stavanger Cathedral |
| Score & parts: | Available from
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 Sample page from score |
Soundclips from the premiereAs the recording is for documentary purpose, we chose to present only excerpts, featuring the transitions between baroque and new music. First the prelude, then the end of each Buxtehude Cantata followed by the start of the Interlude by Nils Henrik Asheim.
Prelude
End of cantata Ad Pedes - start of Interlude 1
End of cantata Ad Genus - start of Interlude 2
End of cantata Ad Manus - start of Interlude 3
End of cantata Ad Latus - start of Interlude 4
End of cantata Ad Pectus - start of Interlude 5
End of cantata Ad Cor - start of Interlude 6
(And then the piece ends with the final cantata Ad Facies)
The collaboration
I was asked by Laima Olsson from the group Paulus Barokk to provide short interludes for a concert with Dietrich Buxtehude's cantata series Membra Jesu Nostri. Paulus Barokk is a flexible ensemble with members from Norway, Sweden and UK: paulusbarokk.moonfruit.com
To start the collaboration we did two days of workshop in Stavanger 22 and 23 October 2009, for me to learn about the baroque instruments, and to get familiar with the playing style of the musicians.
The work consists of 1 prelude and 6 interludes of ca. 2-3 minutes each. Each interlude is built on ideas from the Cantata played before.
VerkkommentarNils Henrik Asheim har i sitt nye verk "Mellomspill" benyttet elementer fra kantatene "Membra Jesu Nostri" og omformet dem. Seks korte satser spilles mellom Buxtehudes syv kantater. Med dette ønsker komponisten å skape luft og meditasjonsrom mellom kantatene, og sette dem i relieff ved hjelp av kontraster.
Mens kantatene kan sees som "fortellende" musikk, kan mellomspillene sees som "billedskapende" musikk. Man kan si at teksten i barokkmusikken kles i retoriske, fortellende fraser, og dette er et hovedgrep som driver musikken framover. I den nye musikken er framdriften mer tvedydig, tidsfølelsen er ikke lineær på samme måte. Musikken går frem og tilbake mellom elementer som speiles og ses fra ulike vinkler.
På variert vis danner mellomspillene lydbilder med ulike farger, stofflighet, med forgrunn, bakgrunn og mellomgrunn. Ofte har de en bevisst skisseaktig form, de antyder og foreslår istedenfor å opptre som sluttede enheter, og overlater gjerne til lytteren å trekke ut tråder.
Mellomspillene er skrevet på initiativ fra Paulus Barokk. De er resultat av en prosess hvor ensemblet og komponisten har jobbet sammen i workshop for bl.a. å utforske spillemåter på de gamle instrumentene.
Programme notesIn his "Interludes for Buxtehude", Nils Henrik Asheim has built on elements from the cantatas "Membra Jesu Nostri". To start, there is a short prelude. Thereafter, cantata 1 is played, then interlude 1 etc etc. Each interlude is based on ideas from the preceding cantata. The composer aims to create space for meditation between the cantatas, and to put them into perspective by means of contrasts.
The cantatas can be seen as "narrative" music, whereas the interludes are "illustrative". In baroque music, words are clothed in rethoric musical phrases. This technique makes the music move forward. The new music is not so obviously linear: it flows back and forth between elements that happen simultaneously but move in and out of focus, and can be seen from different angles.
One could say that the interludes are sonic images with a variety of colours, textures, layered in foreground, background and middle ground. Often they have a sketch-like form instead of pretending to be closed entities. They provide hints and suggestions and leave to the listener to pull out the threads.
The interludes are written on request from Paulus Barokk, as a result of a process where the ensemble and the composer have worked together in workshop in order to explore playing techniques on the old instruments.