( 1978/rev. 2022)
for baritone and piano
World premiere 1978 Gaudeamus Week by Lieuwe Visser, baritone and Maarten Bon, piano.
Imaginations 1 was written while being a composition student. When I had the idea of writing a composition for voice and piano, I knew from the start that I would not be using an existing text, but a sound text of my own creation. This would have many advantages, because I would not be bound to any musical illustration. I would be completely free to evoke suggestions, and the voice might function as a musical instrument. Sources of inspiration: the Sonata in Urlauten by Kurt Schwitters and the piano music by Henry Cowell and George Crumb.
The construction of the words is as follows. The consonants of the alphabet are organized according to a system of rotation. The vowels are organized according to two sound circles. The number of syllables per word increases or decreases. When composing, small interval series were used: tension and release through increasing and decreasing intervals was the starting point.
At the end, which begins when the cymbal (or pan lid) is placed back on the piano strings, it becomes clear that the singer is singing something quite different from what is written in the score: he is reveling in the splendor of his own voice. The pianist refuses to go along with the singer’s antics and eventually disappears. The singer doesn’t notice until much later. Embarrassed, he slips off the stage.
