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Der gerettete Alberich (1997)
Christopher Rouse has been represented at practically every Cabrillo Music
Festival since 1993 and this season's participation in Santa Cruz marks his
fourth time as composer-in-residence. Recent Festival performances include
the West Coast premiere of his Symphony No. 2 in 1998 and his Flute Concerto
in 1999. Born in Baltimore, Rouse graduated from Oberlin Conservatory and
Cornell University, numbering among his teachers George Crumb and Karel
Husa. He is currently a professor of composition at the Eastman School of
Music. Rouse served as the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's
composer-in-residence from 1986-1989, and won the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for
his Trombone Concerto, performed at the 1994 Cabrillo Music Festival.
Completed in Pittsford, New York on June 7, 1997, Der gerettete
Alberich ("Alberich Saved") was commissioned by a consortium of four
symphony orchestras -- Cleveland, Philadelphia, Baltimore and London -- and
is dedicated to percussionist Evelyn Glennie. Christoph von Dohnányi
conducted the premiere with Glennie and the Cleveland Orchestra in January
1998. Rouse has written the following notes: |
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ne of Richard Wagner's most interesting decisions as creator of Der Ring
des Niebelungen was to leave unclear the fate of Alberich, the
villainous dwarf who set in motion the inexorable machinery of destiny,
leading in the end to the apocalyptic cataclysm which concludes the final
opera of the cycle, Götterdämmerung. As is so often the
case in Wagner's operas, Alberich is more than a cardboard villain and is
not entirely unsympathetic; however cruel his actions, they are often the
result of mistreatment at the hands of others. Thus, it is possible to
recognize the inherent evil of his nature and deeds and yet still discern
some measure of humanity in him and, in the process, to feel compassion for
his plight.
As Alberich's whereabouts are unknown at the end of the Ring, it occurred to me that it might be engaging to return him to the stage, so to speak, so that he might wreak further havoc in what is quite literally the godless world in which Wagner has left us in the final pages of Götterdämmerung. Der gerettete Alberich seeks to present a series of imagined moods which might underline Alberich's possible state of mind after the conclusion of the cycle. Rather than a concerto, the piece is more of a fantasy for solo percussion and orchestra of themes of Wagner, with the soloist taking on the "role" of Alberich. The solo percussionist plays from three stations placed close together (but still spatially separate) at the front of the stage. Much of the musical material in the work is derived from a number of motives associated with Alberich in the Ring, among them the motives for the curse, the power of gold, the renunciation of love, annihilation, the Niebelungs and, of course, the Ring itself. Only Wagner's "Redemption through Love" motive stands beyond the ken of the other, Alberich-related motives I have used, though I have rather maliciously distorted it to suit the purposes of my "hero." Notwithstanding the discernible tripartite structure of Der gerettete Alberich, this work is somewhat looser architecturally than other scores of mine to which I have appended the title "concerto" -- hence my decision to refer to it as a "fantasy." Beyond a brief passage in which Alberich serves a stint as a rock drummer, I was not attempting to paint specific pictures in this score. However, the listener is free to provide whatever images he or she likes to the sonic goings-on. not recorded • Program notes by Lawrence Duckles.  |
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