Hans Thomalla
Germany
A composer of dramatic works with a command of vocal textures and aleatoric techniques involving speech, approximated pitch, and repetitive cells, Thomalla’s work in opera includes major choral contributions; his music will present new challenges to The Crossing in a postmodern language influenced by the experimental period. Hans will respond to Buxtehude's fourth cantata, TO THE SIDES, premiering Friday night June 24. Accustomed to opera, Hans will write his own libretto.
Hans Thomalla (Germany) is a Chicago-based composer. He is Associate Professor of Composition at Northwestern University, where he also co-directs the Institute for New Music. His works explore the double-bind character of music as acoustic reality as well as culturally and historically formed expression, constantly following materials transforming from one form of musical experience to the other. He has written chamber music as well as orchestral works, and a particular focus of his activity lies in composing for the stage: his opera Fremd for soloists, choir, large orchestra and electronics, was premiered at the main stage of the Stuttgart Opera in July 2011. Hans Thomalla received degrees from the Frankfurt Musikhochschule and from Stanford University. He has been awarded numerous awards and fellowships, among others the Composer Prize of the Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung, the Kranichsteiner Musikpreis, and the Christoph-Delz-Prize.
To learn more about Hans, visit his website.
Hans' Libretto
“I Come Near You”
text arranged by Hans Thomalla after Arnulf of Louvain and Song of Solomon
I come near you
To your side
From which the fountain of blood flows
With quiet countenance
I stand before you
To contemplate your wounds
I come near you
When the hour of my death draws close,
Let me stand by your side
Arise, arise my love
My beautiful
And come
My beautiful
My love
I come near you
To your side
I stand before you
To contemplate your wounds
I come near you
Let me stand by your side
My love
My beautiful
My love