chanson dada
sop, fl (picc), ob, cl (B, E, bs cl), alto sax, tpt, trbn, pno, 2 perc, vln, vcl, cb
text by Tristan Tzara
First produced, Monadnock Music Festival, New Hampshire, 1979. Joanne Scattergood, sop; James Bolle, cond; Peter Sellars, dir.
Duration: 27:00
Date of Composition: 1979
PROGRAM NOTES:
Chanson Dada is a dada chanson, a dada cantata for soprano and twelve instrumentalists on a poem by Tristan Tzara, one of the progenitors of the Zürich Dadaists. It reflects my interest in various twentieth-century art movements and my fondness for artiness in general. (Only art can save us).
During Chanson Dada, the soprano soloists sings in several styles, sometimes through a bullhorn. She blows a police whistle, chants, sighs, whines, laughs, and cries - all with musical precision. The instrumental parts are technically demanding, and contain extended solo sections for flute, oboe, and violin, which give the players of these instruments a chance to shine. Indeed, all the players in this work have an opportunity to show stuff, from the violinist to the bass drummer.
Chanson Dada was premièred at the Monadnock Music Festival, in Jaffery, New Hampshire, 29 August 1980. The soprano was Joanne Scattergood, Peter Sellars did the staging, and James Bolle conducted.
Lucas Foss, who programmed the piece as part of Meet the Moderns at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, wrote: “Chanson Dada works. It’s ingenious; it sounds!”
-James Sellars