El Cimarrón (Henze)

The recital El Cimarron, Subtitles: autobiography of the escaped slave Esteban Montejo, is a composition by the German composer Hans Werner Henze, which was premiered in 1970 in Berlin during the Berlin Festival.

Genesis

The recital was built in the years 1969-1970, as Henze lived in Cuba. It is based on the oral testimony of former slaves Montejo that this 1963 made ​​against the Cuban writer Miguel Barnet. Montejo had escaped slavery and became Cimarron. In the Cuban War of Independence Montejo took part in the Battle of Mal Tiempo ( Batalla de Mal Tiempo ). The libretto was written by Hans Magnus Enzensberger. Henze wrote it for the people living in Germany American William Pearson. After his death in 1995, Henze wrote: " El Cimarron ' has been composed with lively performances from Billy, his voice, his expression, his ever- charismatic expectant look. Our friendship was funny and is indestructible. "

Occupation

Henze called his work recital for four musicians. The Cimarron is represented by a baritone, the other roles are a guitarist, a flutist and a drummer. During the recital all musicians play also partly percussion instruments. The flutist plays, among other things, the Japanese Ryūteki, the jew's harp and four different conventional flutes.

Tableaux

Henze divided his work in 15 tableaux, which are similar to songs, but the singer some additional expressions demand a like laughing, whistling, yelling, screaming and falsetto.

The tableaux have the following designations:

Premiere

The musicians of the world premiere in Berlin were the baritone William Pearson, flutist Karlheinz Zoeller, the Cuban guitarist and composer Leo Brouwer and Japanese percussionist Stomu Yamashta. Conductor was the composer himself

In June 1970, the recital was performed in the same occupation in England at the Aldeburgh Festival.