Graham Waterhouse Graham Waterhouse (born 2 November 1962) is an English composer and cellist who specializes in chamber music. He has composed a cello concerto, '' Three Pieces for Solo Cello'' and '' Variations for Cello Solo'' for his own instrument, and str ...

, cellist and composer especially of

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small num ...

, has written a number of song cycles. As a cellist, he has used string instruments or a

Pierrot ensemble A Pierrot ensemble is a musical ensemble comprising flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano. This ensemble is named after 20th-century composer Arnold Schoenberg’s seminal work ''Pierrot Lunaire'', which includes the quintet of instruments a ...

instead of the typical piano to accompany a singer. In 2003 he composed a first cycle of songs based on late poems by

Friedrich Hölderlin Johann Christian Friedrich Hölderlin (, ; ; 20 March 1770 – 7 June 1843) was a German poet and philosopher. Described by Norbert von Hellingrath as "the most German of Germans", Hölderlin was a key figure of German Romanticism. Pa ...

. In 2016, he set

nursery rhymes A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and many other countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes. From t ...

, excerpts from

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the Modernism, modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important ...

, and texts by

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

. In 2017, he wrote settings of poems by Irish female writers, and in 2022 a cycle of Buddhist texts for mezzo-soprano, cello and piano.

Overview

The following table contains for every song cycle the title with translation, the year of composition, the text source and its language(s), voice type ( soprano, mezzo-soprano,

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors i ...

) and instrument or ensemble, and the number of movements. When ensemble is mentioned, it is always the

which Arnold Schönberg introduced in his ''

Pierrot Lunaire ''Dreimal sieben Gedichte aus Albert Girauds "Pierrot lunaire"'' ("Three times Seven Poems from Albert Giraud's 'Pierrot lunaire), commonly known simply as ''Pierrot lunaire'', Op. 21 ("Moonstruck Pierrot" or "Pierrot in the Moonlight"), is a m ...

'' of 1912: flute, clarinet,

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...

and

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

''Sechs späteste Lieder''

The cycle, composed in 2003, sets six of the late poems by Hölderlin for mezzo-soprano voice and cello in seven movements, with a prelude by the cello, and the final poem spoken as a melodrama: # Vorspiel (Cello) # ''Das Angenehme dieser Welt'' # ''Nicht alle Tage'' # ''Der Winter'' # ''Die Aussicht'' # ''Der Herbst'' # ''Auf den Tod eines Kindes'' It was performed and live recorded at the

Gasteig Gasteig is a cultural center in Munich, opened in 1985, which hosts the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. The Richard Strauss Conservatory, the Volkshochschule, and the municipal library are all located in the Gasteig. Most of the events of the ...

in Munich by

Martina Koppelstetter Martina Koppelstetter is a German mezzo-soprano in opera and concert. She is particularly interested in contemporary music. Career Born in Lower Bavaria, she enrolled at the Musikhochschule München in 1983, graduating with distinction in 1990. ...

and the composer on 11 April 2010, in a composer's portrait concert, along with chamber music, early songs and the premiere of the setting of the poem ''Im Gebirg'' (''On the Mountains'') by

Hans Krieger Hans Krieger (13 March 1933 – 9 January 2023) was a German writer, essayist, journalist of influential weekly papers such as Die Zeit, broadcaster and poet. Life Born in Frankfurt, Krieger studied German and Romance studies in Frankfurt, Muni ...

, scored for mezzo-soprano,

alto flute The alto flute is an instrument in the Western concert flute family, the second-highest member below the standard C flute after the uncommon flûte d'amour. It is the third most common member of its family after the standard C flute and the ...

and piano.

''Moonbass''

The cycle is a setting of three medieval poems in different languages, for soprano and cello. It was composed for a colloquium at the

University of Oldenburg The Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg (german: Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg) is a university located in Oldenburg, Germany. It is one of the most important and highly regarded educational facilities in northwestern German ...

with

Violeta Dinescu Violeta Dinescu (born 13 July 1953, in Bucharest) is a Romanian composer, pianist and professor, living in Germany since 1982. Romania Violeta Dinescu began her studies of music in 1972 at the conservatory ''Ciprian Porumbescu'' in Bucharest, ...

. # ''He Lune!'' (

Christine de Pisan Christine de Pizan or Pisan (), born Cristina da Pizzano (September 1364 – c. 1430), was an Italian poet and court writer for King Charles VI of France and several French dukes. Christine de Pizan served as a court writer in medieval France ...

, 1365–1430) # ''Man in the Moon'' (anon., translated from Old English by J. Draycott) # ''Der Tunkel Sterne'' (

Der von Kürenberg Der von Kürenberg or Der Kürenberger (fl. mid-12th century) was a Middle High German poet and one of the earliest Minnesänger. Fifteen strophes of his songs are preserved in the Codex Manesse and the Budapest Fragment. Life Since his given name ...

, c. 1150–1170) It was premiered on 28 November 2014 by Stephanie Kühne and the composer.

''De Natura''

''De Natura'' (Of Nature) is a song cycle for tenor and string quartet. The texts have in common that they deal with phenomena of nature. # ''Hymn to Helios'' (anon., 1st century BC) # ''The Moon'' ( Charles Best, 1608) # ''On a Nightingale in April'' ( William Sharp, c. 1890) # ''The Amphisbaena'' ( A. E. Housman, c. 1920) # ''Saint Hugh'' ( Thomas Dekker, c. 1630) It was premiered at the Gasteig on 1 November 2015 by tenor Colin Howard and a string quartet formed by

Joe Rappaport Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...

, Lorenz Chen, Dorothea Galler and the composer.

''Hinx, Minx''

The cycle of settings of six nursery rhymes from the ''Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes'' was composed for a concert for children on the Museumsinsel Hombroich, performed on 28 February 2016 by Eva Vogel,Eva Vogel
/ref> mezzo-soprano, and the composer as the cellist. # ''Sing, sing'' # ''Anna Elise'' # ''Hector Protector'' # ''Hinx, Minx'' # ''Solomon Grundy'' # ''Chinese counting''

''Music of Sighs''

The texts for the cycle are all by

; ''Arise'' from ''

Chamber Music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small num ...

'' (No. 14) is framed by two excerpt from ''

Finnegans Wake ''Finnegans Wake'' is a novel by Irish writer James Joyce. It is well known for its experimental style and reputation as one of the most difficult works of fiction in the Western canon. It has been called "a work of fiction which combines a bod ...

'': # ''Bulbulone'' # ''Arise'' # ''Buzzard'' Scored for mezzo-soprano and ensemble, the cycle was first performed at the Gasteig on 24 April 2016 by Julia Kraushaar and the Ensemble Blauer Reiter.

''Drei Lieder nach Shakespeare''

Waterhouse set three songs by

from his play '' The Tempest'' for soprano and string quartet, to be first performed in an homage concert for Shakespeare, ''... play fast and loose ...'', at the Gasteig on 9 October 2016 by Anna Karmasin and the Pelaar Quartet: # ''Say my Spirit'' # ''Where the Bee sucks'' # ''Juno and Ceres''

''Irish Phoenix''

The cycle is based on poems by Irish women writers from the 8th to the 21st century. It is scored for soprano and an instrumental ensemble matching Anton Webern's arrangement of Schönberg's first '' Chamber Symphony'', Op. 9: flute (doubling piccolo), clarinet (doubling bass clarinet), violin, cello, piano and percussion. Settings of seven poems and an interlude form the cycle: # ''Eve'' (anon, 8th century) # ''News'' (

Colette Nic Aodha Colette Nic Aodha (born 1967) is an Irish poet and writer. Biography Colette Nic Aodha was born in Shrule, County Mayo. She attended University College Galway where she completed a BA in Irish and History in 1988. She later went on to get an M ...

) # ''The Spring'' (

Katharine Tynan Katharine Tynan (23 January 1859 – 2 April 1931)Clarke, Frances (2013)"Hinkson (née Tynan), Katharine Tynan" in ''Dictionary of Irish Biography'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press). was an Irish writer, known mainly for her novels and p ...

) # ''Song'' (Rebecca Scott, 1870) # Interlude # ''Small Breaths'' (Eileen Hulme, 1990) # ''The Poetry Bug'' (

Colette Bryce Colette Bryce is a poet, freelance writer, and editor. She was a Fellow in Creative Writing at the University of Dundee from 2003 to 2005, and a North East Literary Fellow at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne from 2005 to 2007. She was the ...

, early 21st century) # ''The Irish Phoenix'' (anon, 18th century) It was first performed by Anna Karmasin and the ensemble Blauer Reiter at the Gasteig on 1 April 2017.

''Shravana''

The cycle ''Shravan'' for mezzo-soprano, cello and piano is music in five movements for different combinations of the three performers, all with Buddhist overtones. # Gate Paragate # Om Tare # Vajrakilaya # Vokalise # Vaidurya It was first performed at the Gasteig on 12 March 2022 by Anna-Doris Capitelli, the composer and

Miku Nishimoto-Neubert Miku Nishimoto-Neubert is a classical pianist. Born in Tokyo, she studied at the Tokyo University of the Arts (Geidai). On a recommendation of Karl-Heinz Kämmerling she completed her studies in Hannover at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater, ...

References

External links

Works List
{{Graham Waterhouse Chamber music by Graham Waterhouse Contemporary classical compositions Classical song cycles in English Classical song cycles in German 2003 compositions 2014 compositions 2015 compositions 2016 compositions 2017 compositions Musical settings of poems by Friedrich Hölderlin Music based on works by William Shakespeare