Works

Semi No Obebe
Semi No Obebe
2023

(4’)

For the 10th anniversary of her series Contemporary Music x Noh, Annelies Van Parys wrote Semi no obebe for Noh-voice and string trio on a children’s poem about a cicada by Misuzu Kaneko. The piece was written during her residency at TOKAS Tokyo Arts and Space.

Première 
30.11.2023, Tokyo Bunka Kaikan Recital Hall

Performed by Ryoko Aoki
Ryoko Aoki holds a unique position in the field of Noh theatre as a female singer and performer. She has performed in several traditional Noh plays, historically the reserve of male actors. Above all, she is the pioneer of and inspiration for a new artistic form combining traditional Noh recitation with contemporary music. More than 55 works have been written for her by various composers including Peter Eötvös, Toshio Hosokawa, Claude Ledoux a.o

Blake Fragments
2011-2021

(8')

Flute, Oboe, Mezzo and piano
Lyricist:  William Blake

Première: 9 March 2023 by Triotique

Medea
Medea
2021

(15') 
Composition: Annelies Van Parys
Libretto: Gaea Schoeters (transl. Rona Kennedy) 

Soprano: Charlotte Wajnberg
Clarinet: Annelies Van Wauwe
CAROUSEL string quartet:
Samuel Nemtanu
Nicolas Dupont
Mihai Cocea
Louis Rodde

or

Soprano: Catherine Dain
Clarinet: Anna voor de Wind
Ragazze Strijkkwartet

They Have Waited Long Enough.
Commissioned by Wonderfeel and Lunalia Festival

Medea Organ version
Medea Organ version
2022

(15')

Soprano Bauwien van der Meer has put together a program for the instrumentation of the Pie Jesu by the French composer Lili Boulanger: harp, soprano, string quartet and organ. As part of this programme, she asked Annelies Van Parys to make an arrangement of MEDEA for soprano, organ and string quartet.

Soprano, organ and string quartet.

Libretto: Gaea Schoeters

Performed by Bauwien van der Meer (Soprano), Gerrie Meijers (Organ) and Helikon kwartet (String Quartet) during the International Organ Festival Haarlem on the 21st of July 2022. 

”"[...] In contrast to the monster that many see in Medea, Annelies Van Parys feels empathy for her tragic fate. Medea left her homeland to follow her lover to his native land. In this foreign environment, she was immediately swapped for another. Not out of bloodlust but out of pure love, she then kills their children: she wants to save them from the humiliation she herself suffered as an outsider. In Schoeters’ libretto Medea lulls her children into a deadly sleep. Her tenderness and agony are beautifully expressed by the sweet cantilenas of the organ and the soprano’s swaying vocal lines, infused with abrasive multiphonics and grinding strings. Sliding tones, rustling sounds and resigned recitatives alternating with sudden, passionate outbursts from the singer, make Medea’s doubts and despair palpable.[...]"”
Thea Derks
Ah Cette Fable
2017

(12') 
Commissioned by Concertgebouw Brugge for the “Angels Series”.
Text: Gaea Schoeters (transl. Suzanne Notte)

Premièred by Els Mondelaers (mezzo) and Kurt Bertels (Saxophone) on 2 March 2017 in Concertgebouw Brugge.

Mezzosoprano and Tenor saxophone

3 Wesendonck Lieder
2016

(12') 
For (mezzo)soprano and piano
Commissioned by Het Geluid Maastricht
Text: Mathilde Wesendonck

Première: Katarina Morfa and Leonardo Reyna in May 2016 at Operadagen Rotterdam.

Instrumentation: mezzosoprano and piano

3 Haiku's
2012

(6') 
For soprano Yosa Buson, Kajiwara Hashin, Matsuo Basho and piano a request by Dirk Brossé.
Text: Yosa Buson, Kajiwara Hashin, Matsuo Basho

Premièred by Hanne Roos and Daniel Blumenthal in May 2013 at Royal Conservatory Ghent.

Instrumentation: soprano and piano

An Oresteia
An Oresteia
2010

A drama of Clytemnestra from the Oresteia by Aeschylos; a companion to Oresteia by Iannis Xenakis. 

Text by Aeschylos, selection Caroline Petrick Transl. A.D. Bouillet, P. Claudel
for mezzo, mezzo-alto, alto and ensemble

Part 1.  Prologue
Part 2.  Clytemnestre se justifie
Part 3.  L'ombre de Clytemnestre
Part 4.  Epilogue

80' ( staged version, 2010 )
20' ( concert version, 2013 )

Instrumentation: Soprano, Mezzo, Mezzo-alto, flute, oboe, piccolo clarinet Eb, contrabass clarinet, double bassoon, horn in F, trumpet in c, tenor trombone, tuba, cello, timpani, percussion (1)

Commissioned by the Eduard van Beinum Stichting for Asko/Schönberg 

Staged version premiered by VocaalLAB Nederland and Asko/Schönberg Ensemble, cond. Alejo Pérez, February 2011 at Concertgebouw Brugge. Concept and staging Caroline Petrick. A production of Muziektheater Transparant and Concertgebouw Brugge

Concert Version premiered by Asko/Schönberg Ensemble, cond. Clark Rundell, September 2013 at Vredenburg Leeuwenburgh, Utrecht for the opening concert of the 2013 Gaudeamus Muziekweek

Can be performed as a separate music drama, for stage or concert hall, or as part of a complete "Oresteia" to be performed alongside that of Iannis Xenakis.

Visions de Lourdes
2008

(17'45") 
For mezzo, alto flute, bass clarinet, alto violin, double bass and percussion

Soundtrack for the film of Charles de Keukeleire

Commissioned by Muziektheater Transparant, coproduced with the Belgian Filmarchive and La Bourse, Brussels. Premiere by Hermes Ensemble and Els Mondelaers, cond. Koen Kessels, January 2009 in La Bourse, Brussels.

Ruins
2006

(13') 
For soprano, alto flute, clarinet, cello, percussion and piano
Commissioned by de Bijloke

Premiere by Champ d'Action, cond. James Wood, March 2006 at de Bijloke, Gent

3 New Poems
2004

(14') 
For mezzo, flute, cello and piano on texts of Charlotte Mew

3 Mew Poems by Annelies Van Parys were commissioned by the Canadian Phoenix Ensemble in 2004. They are 3 poetic songs that draw on the refined colours of the text by Charlotte Mew (1869 - 1928).

Premiere by the Phoenix Trio in February 2005, Montréal