let me cry

for orchestra

about

“In 1711, Georg Friederich Händel wrote his famous aria Lascia ch’io pianga (Italian: Let me cry) for the opera Rinaldo, in which the captured Almirena begs for her freedom. However, that was actually Händel’s third re-use of a melody that he had previously featured in a 1707 oratorio and a 1705 opera.

Today, it’s my turn to re-use Händel’s melody. In let me cry, a simplified version of the first eight bars of Lascia ch’io pianga is divided between 16 voices that all start out of sync with one another and then gradually sync up over the course of the piece.

The orchestral texture of let me cry is dense and characterised by the incremental emergence and disappearance of the individual instruments. Those fluctuations create a constantly changing symphonic timbre reminiscent of a shimmering lake under the midday sun or the sand dunes of the Sahara being gently sculpted by the desert winds.”

— Eli Tausen á Lava

acknowledgements

let me cry was premiered on 25 May 2022 by Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra conducted by Samuli Örnströmer at Helsingborg Concert Hall, Helsingborg, Sweden.

composition year

2022

duration

11′ 00″

Instrumentation

2 Flutes (2nd doubling Piccolo)

2 Oboes

2 Clarinets in B-flat

2 Bassoons (2nd doubling Contrabassoon)

4 Horns in F

2 Trumpets in C

2 Trombones

Bass Trombone

Tuba

Timpani

Percussion (1 player): Suspended Cymbal, Glockenspiel, Triangle (High), Clash Cymbals

Strings