Eight fragments from letters by Vincent van Gogh for baritone and string quartet (op. 84, 1985)
I., II., III., IV., V., VI., VII., VIII.
Baritone, string quartet
Duration: 19 minutes
Martin Hummel | Seraphim-Quartett Stuttgart: Margret Hummel | Sonoko Imai | Florian Hummel | Matthias Neupert
Title: 8 FRAGMENTS FROM LETTERS BY VINCENT VAN GOGH for baritone and string quartet op. 84 - Length: 28 pages - Dated: I. 28.4.85 II. 2.May 85 III. 3.May 85 IV. 19.May 85 V. Whitsun 85 VI. 28 May 85 VII. 29 May 85 VIII. 30 May 85 - Location: Bavarian State Library, Munich
Schott Music ED 20241 / ISMN: M-001-14888-7
First edition: J. Schuberth & Co., Hamburg 1988
I.
I feel a force in me - a fire that I must not put out, but must keep ablaze, although I don't know to what end it is leading me and I dare say, a sombre one would not surprise me.
to Theo van Gogh, 5 November 1882, The Hague
II.
Outside it is dreary; the fields are a clay-pit all clumpy with heavy earth and a little snow; the days here mostly are misty and dirty; morning and evening the ruddy sun, crows and dried-up grass and withered rotting green; black are the bushes and the twigs of the poplars and the willows sharp as wire rigid against dismal sky.
to Theo van Gogh, 1 January 1885, Nuenen
III.
Those who believe not in sunlight truly are infidels.
to Theo van Gogh, 11 August 1888, Arles
IV.
Oh, that beautiful sun just here in midsummer. It beats down on one's head now and for me there's no doubt that it's leading to craziness. But, since I'm crazy anyway, I simply enjoy it.
to Emile Bernhard, 18 August 1888, Arles
V.
Though I am often in turmoil, there's still deep in me, despite this, a peacefulness and purest harmony and music.
to Theo van Gogh, 20 July 1882, The Hague
VI.
A man may have a great fire in his soul, but no-one ever comes stopping there to warm himself; and the passers-by will only see a whisper of smoke drifting upwards from the chimney and then they will continue along their way.
to Theo van Gogh, July 1880, Borinage
VII.
A man who does not feel small, who does not grasp that he's a grain of dust, makes a fundamental error.
to Theo van Gogh, 4 November 1883, Drenthe
VIII.
I saw in this reaper a vague figure like a devil, battling in the glowing midday heat so that his labour soon may be ended. I see in this man the image of death and mankind is the corn that is reaped; but in this death there is no sadness, all takes place by bright light of day with such a sun that floods all things with pure and richest golden streams of light.
to Theo van Gogh, 4th or 5th September 1889, Saint-Rémy
English translation of German Version by William Buchanan and Martin Hummel (2006)
German translation from the Dutch and French by Leo Klein-Diepold (1865-1944) and Carl Einstein (1885-1940) (Briefe an den Bruder Theo, Berlin 1914) and by Hans Graber (1886-1959) (Briefe an Emile Bernhard, Paul Gaugin, Paul Signac und andere, Basel 1938)
With the "Eight Fragments" , Bertold Hummel has indeed created a highly impressive work. These "dark grey songs" - to quote Ludwig Hirsch - unfold a sad, expressive, almost somnambulistic charm that is extremely atmospheric and text-related. These songs seem to have become Bertold Hummel's completely inward-looking"Winterreise", the epigram of a psychosis, full of hidden allusions and dark forebodings, but also always full of hope. The"sun" becomes the repeatedly invoked bearer of hope. The music is highly expressive, utilising the different ways of playing and bowing the string instruments, their nuancing possibilities, to the utmost, sometimes creating oppressive visions of sound. It is endangered music with an extremely unstable balance. There are also subtle musical allusions. Harmony and tonality are evoked with just one note following the word"music".
Reinhard Söll
A fervent, glowing setting, whose melodic style is cuddly to the prose-like text by the painter van Gogh and whose artistic message was so well suited to being presented as a credo to an audience that had rushed in out of personal sympathy and objective interest.
In addition to songs by Barber and Respighi, Christoph Sökler has included Bertold Hummel's "Eight fragments from letters by Vincent van Gogh" in his demanding programme in the Schlosskirche. He sings these fragments with a strong, also inwardly strong voice with a fine, bright timbre, completely secure within the string section, which is more oppressive than supportive. Radically explores violent intervallic tensions. Shocked by the sharpness, the drama, the seriousness of his performance and by the closeness to the word of every note. Makes the tale of woe of these epistolary passages palpable in a rending and yet never violent expression and has the strength and warmth to let the picturesque sun rise in this highly condensed music and let the splendour of the voice flow.
One of Bertold Hummel's main works is the Eight Fragments from Letters by Vincent van Gogh, set for baritone and string quartet in 1984. These are atmospherically dense, dark grey songs, above which the sun rises at times as van Gogh's symbol of hope. There has been talk of Bertold Hummel's "Winterreise", which is not at all far-fetched, because here too everything is turned inwards, here too the picture is one of total isolation with traits of psychosis, here too oppressive visions of sound are evoked, especially in the string writing, which utilises all the possibilities of nuance.
The eight letters date from the years 1880 to 1889, i.e. from the time when van Gogh first embarked on the path of a Methodist preacher and then gradually found his true destiny. The late letters were written in Arles, where he painted and lived in the much-publicised yellow house.
Van Gogh has rarely been associated with music. This makes it all the more exciting to see how his highly expressive letters - definitely side pieces to the paintings - are reflected in the sound world of an oversensitive composer of our time.
Karl Schumann 1990
Foreword (Schott Music)
"With the Eight Fragments , Bertold Hummel has indeed created a highly impressive work. These "dark grey songs" - to quote Ludwig Hirsch - unfold a sad, expressive, almost somnambulistic charm that is extremely atmospheric and text-related. These songs seem to have become Bertold Hummel's completely inward-looking Winterreise, the epigram of a psychosis, full of hidden allusions and dark forebodings, but also always full of hope. The sun becomes a constantly invoked beacon of hope. The music is highly expressive, utilising the various ways of playing and bowing the string instruments, their nuanced possibilities, to the utmost, sometimes creating oppressive visions of sound. It is endangered music with an extremely unstable balance. There are also subtle musical allusions. With just one note following the word"music", harmony and tonality are evoked."
Reinhard Söll