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- Hans Abrahamsen
Let me tell you (2013)
- Edition Wilhelm Hansen Copenhagen (World)
Commissioned by Stiftung Berliner Philharmoniker with the support of Danish Arts Foundation
- 3(afl:2pic).1+ca.2+bcl.2+cbn/4230/timp.3perc/hp.cel/str(14.12.10.8.7)
- Soprano
- 30 min
- Paul Griffiths (based on Ophelia's words by Shakespeare)
- English
- 15th April 2025, Konzerthaus, Freiburg, Germany
Programme Note
The orchestral song cycle let me tell you by Hans Abrahamsen, based on the novel let me tell you (2008) by Paul Griffiths, has been initiated by Barbara Hannigan. In the work, Ophelia tells her story in a first person narrative devised by Griffiths using only the 481 word vocabulary given to her in Shakespeare‘s Hamlet. He uses a constrained writing technique similar to those employed by the avant-garde Oulipo group. It is a text of delicate and fragile atmosphere and the selections for the song cycle have been a joint effort by all three artists.
This is the second commission Abrahamsen has received from Berlin Philharmonic with the support of the Danish Arts Foundation. It follows Nacht und Trompeten in 1971 which was championed by Hans Werner Henze, who was, at that time, composer in residence at the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
Awards
Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Large-Scale Composition 2015
Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition 2016
Gramophone Classical Music Award for Contemporary Music 2016
Nordic Council Music Prize 2016
Diapason d'Or 2016
Edison Klassiek prize 2016
Danish Radio P2 - Album of the year 2017
This is the second commission Abrahamsen has received from Berlin Philharmonic with the support of the Danish Arts Foundation. It follows Nacht und Trompeten in 1971 which was championed by Hans Werner Henze, who was, at that time, composer in residence at the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
Awards
Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Large-Scale Composition 2015
Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition 2016
Gramophone Classical Music Award for Contemporary Music 2016
Nordic Council Music Prize 2016
Diapason d'Or 2016
Edison Klassiek prize 2016
Danish Radio P2 - Album of the year 2017
Media
Scores
Score preview