Hans Abrahamsen: /Walden /Wald Calefax Reed Quintet

• 1Bei Anbruch06:20
• 2Walden, Moderato fluente - Allegro03:31
• 3Walden, Alla marcia03:57
• 4Walden, Andante - Più mosso ma calmo02:14
• 5Walden, Allegretto giocoso01:05
• 6In den Wäldern06:32
• 7Wald17:13
• 8Zur Nacht08:57
• Total Runtime49:49

Info for Hans Abrahamsen: /Walden /Wald

Hans Abrahamsen: 'Wald' is sort of a variation series about the beginning of my woodwind quintet 'Walden'. The thematic idea is very simple: an ascending fourth-call and the answers of other voices. This is repeated several times, but since the call has a slower pulse than the answers, the order is finally being changed. For »Walden« I borrowed the title from the American philosopher Henry David Thoreau. He wrote about life in the wood, where the American philosopher spent two years. It was an experiment, the attempt to abandon all artificial, society grown needs and to rediscover the oneness of the human being with nature. Although Thoreau did not undertake a detailed analysis of society, he was, in his comprehension of economy and ecology – the cyclic constitution of nature – way ahead of the times. »Walden« was composed in a style of recycling and of 'new simplicity'. Unnecessary material was peeled in order to make space for other characteristics such as conciseness and clarity. One meets several principles in this quintet: organics (growth, bloom, decay), concreteness (mechanic patterns) and finally the descriptive (horn sounds from afar and other ghostly music of the past enter like a dream our consciousness).

The music of 'Wald' and 'Walden' will be embedded in field recordings by Stefan Winter. The breathing of the timeless and peaceful woods is the neutral state of sound and there is a sound esoteric beyond silence.

Calefax Reed Quintet:
Oliver Boekhoorn, oboe
Ivar Berix, clarinet
Jelte Althuis, bass clarinet
Raaf Hekkema, alto saxophone
Heidi Mockert, bassoon
Asko Schönberg Ensemble
Reinbert de Leeuw, conductor

Walden (1978/95)
Walden is the title of a book written in 1854 by Henry David Thoreau, about life in the woods where the American philosopher had spent two years. It was an experiment, an attempt to set aside all the artificial needs created by society, and rediscover the unity of man and nature. Although Thoreau didn’t undertake any detailed social analysis, his perception of economy and ecology – of the cyclic essence of nature – was far ahead of its time. Stylistically, Walden was conceived in terms of recycling and the “new simplicity”. Superfluous material was excluded so as to make room for other properties such as pithiness and clarity. One encounters several principles in the quintet: organic ones (growth, blossoming, decay), concrete ones (mechanical patterns) and finally descriptive ones (distant horn calls and other phantasmal music of the past enter our consciousness as if in a dream). Walden was written in 1978 for a classic wind quintet (flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon); in 1995 came a second version for the Calefax Reed Quintet. - Hans Abrahamsen

At Dawn/In the Woods/At Night (2013)
In the wood: sounds of the dawn, day sounds, night sounds. I listen to the wind, the movement of twigs, the birds, the stream, the insects, raindrops, thunder, and the trickling of water. I hear the sounds emerge, flow into one another and join together. I want to preserve the purity of nature, keeping the vulgarity of the towns, the racket, the hubbub, and the roar inaudibly far away. I’m seeking sonorities, recording sounds, hearing, feeling. At dawn the wood awakens, the silence is filled, sonorities emerge from nothing, birds announce first light. In the distance a spring pushes out of the earth, water laps over the rocks, a brook rustles. In the middle of the day one seems to hear the wood’s silvery body. By the pond the voices gently rise and harmonise: the landscape resounds. No trundling machines break through this timbre. Just a dead twig falling, a breath of wind blows across the calm mirror of the lake, and little waves spread over its surface. At the end of the day the darkness gradually silences the sounds of life. There is a distant rumble of thunder, rain is falling, night falls, the birds are hushed, they rest, and silence pervades the wood. The simplicity of the sounds determines my musique concrete composition. The wood comes across as a still life – not a ‘nature morte’, but the sounds of life. - Stefan Winter

Wald (2009)
Wald is a sort of set of variations on the beginning of my woodwind quintet Walden (1978). The thematic idea is really simple: the ascending call of a fourth, and the responses of the other instruments. This is repeated several times, but since the call has a slower pulse than the responses, the ordering ultimately changes. For Walden I borrowed my title from the American philosopher Henry David Thoreau, who wrote the book Walden in the middle of the nineteenth century, about his time in the woods, in a small solitary hut on the banks of the lake Walden Pond. Here he spent two years, so as to get closer to nature, and see if it was possible to live without the needs created by society. The book is full of lyricism, but is also sharp and socio-critical. In my piece Walden I was seeking the same simplicity, making use of a no-frills material, but without losing the lyrical aspect. Wald is a companion piece to Walden, but also to Schnee. In 1848-49 Robert Schumann composed his Waldszenen (Woodland Scenes), a collection of short pieces with titles like Solitary Flowers, Bird as Prophet, and also Hunters on the Lookout, and this was actually just a few years before Thoreau wrote his book Walden. For both of them, the wood is a magic-romantic place. For me too, the wood still has mysterious properties. Many years ago I played the fairy-tale Waldhorn, and I remember swarms of startled birds, and the feel of a hunt with galloping horses. Such scenes also can be heard in my piece. - Hans Abrahamsen

(Translation: Richard Toop)

Calefax
is a close-knit ensemble of five reed players united by a shared passion. For more than three decades they have been acclaimed in the Netherlands and abroad for their virtuosic playing, brilliant arrangements and innovative stage presentation. They are the inventors of a completely new genre: the reed quintet. They provide inspiration to young wind players from all over the world who follow in their footsteps. Calefax can be defined as a classical ensemble with a pop mentality. Calefax takes an adventurous approach to presenting its programs and has a uniquely varied repertoire ranging from 1100 to the present day. They perform their own arrangements and newly commissioned compositions for the unique combination of oboe, clarinet, saxophone, bass clarinet and bassoon. Calefax is open to the influence of world music, jazz and improvisation as a result of countless international tours and collaborations with all kinds of musicians.

The group publishes sheet music of their own arrangements for reed quintet under the name Calefax Edition, so that they play a pioneering role and put this new genre on the map.

Calefax often joins forces with other musicians and artists from other disciplines. A hallmark of these collaborations is the continual quest to present striking, new repertoire and an adventurous approach to stage presentation. They have collaborated with the pianists Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Ivo Janssen, Louis van Dijk and Michiel Braam, violinists Liza Ferschtman and Claude Chalhoub, singers Lenneke Ruiten, Christianne Stotijn, Helena Rasker, Nora Fischer, Cora Burggraaf and Denise Jannah, trombonist Christian Lindberg, the Tony Overwater Trio, Cappella Amsterdam, Danel Quartet, Zapp4, the Nederlands Kamerkoor, trumpeters Eric Vloeimans and Marco Blaauw, percussionist Arnold Marinissen, clarinettist Kinan Azmeh, choreographers Boukje Schweigman and Sanne van der Put and visual artists Jaap Drupsteen and Wouter van Reek. Calefax also performed for the soundtrack of the 2013 Dutch film De nieuwe wildernis.

Calefax has released 19 CDs under the renowned German MDG label and its own RIOJA Records label. All the recordings have earned critical acclaim from the international press. The mezzo-soprano Cora Burggraaf can be heard on the CD entitled The Roaring Twenties,while the On the Spot CD features the trumpeter Eric Vloeimans, who transports Calefax into the world of jazz and improvisation. Their latest CD, entitled Romantic Kaleidoscope, was released in October 2015, packaged within the anniversary book Calefax en de Caleidoscoop, written by the radio presenter Lex Bohlmeijer and published by Cossee.

Calefax has won many major music prizes, including the 1997 Philip Morris Arts Prize, the 2001 Kersjes van de Groenekan Prize and the 2005 VSCD Classical Music Award. In 2012 Calefax received the German Junge Ohren Prize for the family musical show The Music Factory, a co-production with the Dutch theatre company Oorkaan.

The group has given concerts in virtually every country in Europe, as well as touring Russia, China, India, Turkey, Japan, South Africa, Brazil and the United States, performing at major venues including Wigmore Hall (London), the Oriental Arts Centre (Shanghai) and Lincoln Center (NYC). In January 2013 Calefax had the honour of accompanying the former Dutch Queen Beatrix on her final two state visits, to Brunei and Singapore.

This album contains no booklet.