OFFERING

Although almost contemporaneous, dating from the early 20th century, Mahler’s Lieder and De Falla’s Spanish popular songs featured in this concert open onto two contrasting musical worlds: depth and harmonic richness on the one hand, delicacy, transparency and lightness of line on the other. Yet in both cases, the composers transcend the poetic material through the subtlety of its musical transformation.

Contralto Sarah Laulan takes on the challenge of interpreting not only these two repertoires, in instrumental arrangements created for the Sturm und Klang ensemble, but also Offering (2023) by Belgian composer Benoît Mernier, whose three texts are drawn from poems by Rabindranath Tagore. The first song evokes the anticipation of an encounter. The second expresses the hope of embarking with the long-awaited beloved in “the last light of sunset”. The third breaks with the preceding atmosphere, turning instead to joy, “which across the wide world makes twin life and death dance”.

Programme

Manuel de Falla – Siete canciones populares españolas
Arrangement: Jean-Louis Poliart

Gustav Mahler – Des Knaben Wunderhorn, excerpts:
Wer hat dies Liedlein erdacht? – Verlor’ne Müh’ – Das irdische Leben – Urlicht – Der Tamboursg’sell
Arrangement: Adrien Tsilogiannis

Benoît Mernier – Offering

STURM UND KLANG

Sarah Laulan – contralto
Delphine Dewald – flute · Cédric De Bruycker – clarinet
Maxime Stasyk – violin · Ondine Simon – viola · Catherine Lebrun – cello
Anne Zeuwts – harp · Jean-Louis Maton and Max Charue – percussion
Thomas Van Haeperen – conductor