Der abflauende Sturm - Overture for Choir and String Orchestra in C minor.

An arrangement for choir and orchestra of my Overture in C-sharp minor, originally intended for string orchestra alone and first posted yesterday morning.

As stated in the original post, this piece's overall character stems from the metaphor of a harsh storm passing, as hinted by the German title shown in the score: "Der abflauende Sturm" (roughly translatable as "The Passing Storm").

Alongside the initial version of the score, now transposed one half-step lower to C minor, two flutes, two oboes, a basoon and a five-part choir have also been added (though only the vocal parts are shown in the video itself, as the others are doubling each voice respectively). The latter's lyrics are a poem I wrote in German more than 3 years ago, back in late April 2022, which reads as follows:

Im kaltesten Winter hätt' ich weder Mantel noch Decke,

auch keine warme Suppe oder rauchige Salzkartoffeln,

nicht mal Orten neben Schornstein, kein Licht einer Kerze.

Im heißesten Sommer wär' ich an keinen goldenen Stränden,

auch kein' üppigen Wälder will ich schon besichtigen,

zwischen Wolken erreichen mich keine Sonnenstrahlen.

Entweder ganzleblich, Jahr über oder seit einer Instant

gibt es im ganzen Welt nichts was ich will,

und es finden können nirgends weder ich noch niemand.

Each of the three stanzas are almost evenly distributed across each of the five voices: the basses and tenors sing the first one, the altos and mezzosopranos the second, and the third is reserved for the sopranos. This poem happened to be exceedingly convenient in length to set music to, an advantage which I think I have made good use of here.

A rough translation of the poem into English is provided below:

In the coldest winter I would have neither coat nor cover,

neither would I have a warm soup nor smoked potatoes,

not even a place by the fireplace, nor the light of a candle.

In the hottest Summer I would stand in no golden shore,

nor would I visit any lush forests,

no sunrays reach me from between the clouds.

For neither in a lifetime, over the years nor for a single moment,

is there in the entire world anything of what I want,

and that no one can find, neither I nor anyone else.

YouTube video link: 

Hey @Fugax Contrapunctus!

I really really love those suspensions you have in the whole music, it even includes a suspension of false relations in b.5! It reminds me the opening Kyrie of the Mass in B minor in some way, maybe because of its five voice distribution. Thx for sharing!

Henry

Hi @Fugax Contrapunctus!

This perhaps makes me think of a slow funeral march with its metronomic regularity and depth of emotion.  I usually try to try to steer clear of orchestrating stuff the way you've done here where the choir is basically just doubled by the strings and woodwinds.  You seem to have made it work, but I wonder if that will translate to a real performance.  Perhaps with a careful balancing of the orchestra and a formidable enough choir, the orchestra won't drown the choir out.  But you seem to have deliberately omitted the brass which might have been too forceful for the venue and the nature of the music, so I guess it's best to leave them tacit.  Thanks for sharing!