Mysterious classical piece
August 1, 2013 8:08 PM   Subscribe

There is an aria/section of a classical piece in my head I cannot identify. There is a soprano or mezzo-soprano solo (with an orchestra behind I think, though I cannot remember any details of the music), who sings a line that is something like "never seen his face (possibly "this place") before". It also contains a chorus shouting in between the soloist's phrases, with children's or an amplified child's voice quite prominent in parts of this shouting.

As it's in English I assume it's contemporary. I had conceived it to be part of Philip Glass's Einstein on the Beach but I saw that yesterday and it wasn't there nor would it (upon reflection) make any sense as one of his compositions, hence prompting this question. It may be related to him in some way however.
posted by solarion to Media & Arts (5 answers total)
 
Some of the details (repetition, amplification, shouting, children's choir) are making me thing of George Crumb, who is another Big Name in contemporary music. But I don't have a specific piece in mind, and there's tons of other composers it could be.
posted by Now there are two. There are two _______. at 12:24 AM on August 2, 2013


Response by poster: I may have just dreamed this; that's how unsure I am. Any pointers at all are helpful, however unspecific.
posted by solarion at 3:58 AM on August 2, 2013


It's been a very long time since I've listened to this work so I don't know about that specific line but on the surface it sounds like it could be Crumb's Ancient Voices of Children, it's certainly one of his best known works.
posted by bfootdav at 6:39 AM on August 2, 2013


That makes me think of William Bolcom's Songs of Innocence and Experience.
posted by moonmilk at 7:36 AM on August 2, 2013


Response by poster: Resolved, though I highly doubt anybody cares: Act 1 (A Gentleman's Honour) by Philip Glass.
posted by solarion at 12:32 AM on January 12, 2014 [2 favorites]


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