Character Studies after Elias Canetti
Character Studies after Elias Canetti
various solo instruments
The following works are included in this collection:
- Der Hinterbringer (The Tattletale), for solo piccolo (2013)
- Der Ohrenzeuge (The Earwitness), for solo bass flute (2001)
- Der Wasserhehler (The Water-harborer), for solo ocarina (2000)
- Der Tückenfänger (The Wile-catcher), for solo basset horn (2014)
- Der Leidverweser (The Woe-administrator), for solo contrabassoon (1998)
- Die Müde (The Tired Woman), for solo alto saxophone (2004)
- Der Schönheitsmolch (The Beauty-newt), for solo bass saxophone (2008)
- Die Königskünderin (The King-proclaimer), for solo trumpet (2006)
- Der Heroszupfer (The Hero-tugger), for solo trombone (2019)
- Die Sternklare (The Starry Woman), for solo percussion (2006)
- Der Saus und Braus (The Fun-runner), for solo piano (2017)
- Der Gottprotz (The God-swanker), for solo organ (2014)
- Die Geruchschmale (The Narrow-smeller), for solo harpsichord (2022)
- Die Silbenreine (The Syllable-pure Woman), for solo glass harmonica (2000)
- Der Fehlredner (The Misspeaker), for solo cimbalom (2018)
- Der Maestroso, for solo carillon (2022)
- Der Demutsahne (The Humility-forebear), for solo guitar (2008)
- Die Tischtuchtolle (The Tablecloth-lunatic), for solo violin (1997)
- Der Tränenwärmer (The Tear-warmer), for solo viola (2020)
- Die Schadhafte (The Defective), for solo violoncello (2015)
- Der Leichenschleicher (The Corpse-skulker), for solo contrabass (1997)
variable
1997-2022
- The works in this collection may be programmed individually or in sets of two or more.
- May be programmed in conjunction with the semi-improvisational, open-form works Canetti-menagerie (for five to eight instruments) or Conversations (for two to four instruments), which use these solo works as source material for improvisational interplay.
Based upon characters from Der Ohrenzeuge: Fünfzig Charaktere (Earwitness: Fifty Characters), written in 1974 by the Bulgarian-born British-Austrian writer Elias Canetti (1905-1994).
Refer to the individual works in this collection for a complete performance history.
Links to scores and recordings may be found on the individual pages for each of the above studies.
This series of short works for solo instruments is based upon the vividly surreal characters in Der Ohrenzeuge: Fünfzig Charaktere ("Earwitness: Fifty Characters"), written in 1974 by the Bulgarian-born British-Austrian novelist Elias Canetti (1905-1994). Canetti’s distinctive studies incorporate poetic imagery, singular insights, and unabashed wordplay to create fifty ironic paradigms of human behavior. Begun in 1997, there are nineteen works in this series to date, composed for piccolo, bass flute, ocarina, basset horn, contrabassoon, alto saxophone, bass saxophone, trumpet, trombone, violin, viola, violoncello, contrabass, guitar, percussion, glass harmonica, cimbalom, piano, and organ. These works may be played individually or in various combinations, as well as in conjunction with Canetti-menagerie or Converations — semi-improvisational open-form works based on materials drawn from the solo pieces in this collection.
