"... Tonight’s big interest, however, was the British premiere of Rolf Martinsson’s Garden of Devotion. It’s a song cycle of five poems from The Gardener by Rabindranath Tagore, centring on a woman asking a man to devote himself to her fully but failing to receive a positive answer. I found it really attractive. Martinsson’s musical language is firmly tonal and melodic, the orchestration (for strings only) repeatedly lush and welcoming, matching the soprano line perfectly as one complements the other. In some of the songs, the music is tailored acutely to the words, as in Do Not Keep , where the yearning of the voice is reflected in the yearning of the words, or Do Not Go where the lover’s insecurity is reflected in the slight nervousness of the vocal line ..."
Martinsson's Attractive Garden of Devotion Receives UK Premiere
Simon Thompson / Music Web International
09May2015
Garden of Devotion
- Lisa Larsson, soprano
- Scottish Chamber Orchestra
- Olari Elts
- Queen's Hall
- Edinburgh, UK