"Sleepless Slumber"

Today's post is about "Sleepless Slumber" by Guusje and Puck Ingen Housz. The piece is written for voice, piano, winds, and metronome and was the winner of the Youth Composition Contest for the Netherlands Wind Ensemble's "On to New Year's Concert 2008."

These program notes on Sleepless Slumber came from the Nederlands Blazer Ensemble [Netherlands Wind Ensemble] website. A special thank you to Bryan Crumpler for the translation from Dutch to English. You can reach Bryan at http://www.proz.com/pro/40804 and at http://whosthatguy.com.

Guusje (Dutch for "Gussie" or Augusta, in its extended form) and her little sister Puck are the brains behind this collaborative work. Guusje plays the piano, and Puck sings. Here is what they themselves have to say concerning their piece:

"Our composition represents one of those nights where you just can't seem to get any sleep. As you lie there, you are constantly distracted by noises and the flurry of thoughts or words rushing through your head. Imagine a word popping into mind and being unable to grab hold of the trail of thought as it scurries by, only to feel compelled to chase after it. You end up drifting between a state of sleep and wakefulness, lying there for hours on end in a sort of sleepless slumber."

They have also incorporated the use of a metronome in order to represent this distraction that the outside world presents. Below are some of the lyrics to their work:

"Sleepless slumber

Cucumber

Bicycle, twicycle, tricycle, volcano

Paperdoll

Drifting off at dawn"

Translation courtesy of:

Bryan A. Crumpler

http://www.proz.com/pro/40804

#programnotes #housz