Description

Madrigale II
Qu’est devenu ce bel oeil

for 12 Instruments (fl. Ob. Cl. Mand. Guit. Harp Perc. Pno. Vln Vla. Vc. Dbl Bs.)
Duration: 21′

1. AH GOOD THE SEA
2. Trio
3. Chorale
4. Une Jeune Fillette
5. SARDINES
6. Exeunt

by Edward Caine

Madrigale II: Qu’est devenu ce bel oeil  is one of a succession of pieces which divide up the Italian renaissance chanson “madre non mi far monica” (in French Une Jeune Fillette) into pitch sets from which the material is derived. The other pieces are Madrigale in 12 parts for three trombones and Madrigale III for solo Violoncello. Having said that, most of the material in this piece is actually based similarly on Claude Le Jeune’s Chromatique, or Q’est devenu ce bel oeil.

It was written for the now sadly defunct Nieuw Ensemble, based in Amsterdam as part of the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and Nieuw Ensemble EU Funds commission and was written during a very busy time for me compositionally. It was also during this piece that I started to suffer from depression, and a lot of the themes and nature of my programme notes from the time reflect that. Despite my own descent into turmoil, it was an exciting time composing this, and I especially liked working in Amsterdam with the ensemble and with fellow composers on the scheme.