Nachtlied

Programme notes

Nachtlied literally means Night Song in Flemish, which is my mother tongue. Far from being a phase of inactivity, night-time is a mirror of the day with the difference that everything is magnified: by night, sounds seem louder, silences are pregnant, shadows threaten, buildings are more awesome and less ugly, as if nature reasserts itself over people. In short, I endeavoured to express the ambiguity and mixed feelings of the nocturnal fantasy versus diurnal boring matter-of-factness. Part 1 evokes a warm, heavy night with pitch F tolling obstinately above little eruptions of activity. Part 2 evokes the simple desire to sing. A pentatonic scale weaves around up and down a naive and passionate tune in D Major creating a jarring garland. In part 3 the harp expresses darkness, threat and growing anxiety whilst a small boy walks in the darkness whistling loudly to show that he is not afraid. In fact, the boy is afraid and stepwise loses his confidence. Indeed, in part 4 the feeling of fear bursts out, then gradually recedes as pitch F sharp is a reassuring beacon of light that invites us into the next part. Part 5 bathes in a gentle halo of light, a peaceful vastness of amniotic water above which the flutes sing and sing and sing. Yet, the concentric water flow accelerates and seems to suck us to the bottom of the ocean or into the daily reality. Instead of drowning in part 6, by some oneiric twist, one finds oneself transported high up into the skies, floating here and there in the air, weightless, free from gravity and time, ascending and descending, playing with the warm currents of air like an eagle. Night reasserts its presence towards part 7, during which we travel in the reverse of part 1 until the open end of part 8 vanishes in thin air. This track has appeared on a cd recorded by Roberto Álvarez on the flute and Katryna Tan on the harp, entitled La Noche, 21st Century music for flute and harp. 

Handwritten sketches and drafts

to be found on page 169 of the red cover, A4 size, 385 pages, sketchbook and on page 22 of the yellow cover logbook #4

Completion of the composition 

29-VIII-2010

Recording

link #1 audio of the premiere

Score follower

link #2 

Review

"There was a programme to Robert Casteels' Nachtlied, which called upon Alvarez to perform on three instruments including the piccolo and the alto flute. The wide dynamic range expressed about a child's fear of darkness probably hinted at the psychological and the subconscious" Chang Tou Liang, Singapore Review "Of particular interest is Casteels's Nachtlied. Spooky and atmospheric, the flute uses some extended techniques -flutter tongue and note bending- plus he's asked to play other instruments in the family, including the airy alto flute. The harp knocks on the wood and plays with her fingernails, all of which opens up a wider palette of colours. Casteels's particular interest is in the way music can exactly slip between cultures. We hear the Asian influence for sure, but the end result is something new. As I write this, I'm being driven through a stand of birch trees lit up by a sun hanging low on the horizon. What a perfect soundtrack. Even though the music is slow moving, there's a sense of journey" 

Alison Young 

Review 

"Casteels, para contar esta historia, usa varias técnicas actuales para el arpa, como armónicos, golpes sobre la consola como pequeña percusión o desplazamientos del pedal, que combinados crean unos nuevos y refrescantes colores sonoros para el arpa"

Gonzalo Pérez Chamorro, Barcelona