AGLEPTA Three-Part Treble WTC1007 Melinas AGLEPTA By ARNE MELLNAS —TAPIOLA — CHORAL SERIES Edited by ~ ERKKI POHJOLA WALTON MUSIC IONS, INC. ‘www.waltonmusic.comEnglish Text by A G L E P TA ARNE MELLNAS, 1969 GUNILLA MARCUS for three-part treble choir “To leave an enemy without an answer’ Say these words to him: Aglaria Pidhol garia Ananus Qepta and blow in his direction; then he will not know which way he is headed and cannot answer you. (Smaland 19th Century; Swedish Trollproverts tempo ad lib. ® by Bengt of Kiintberg Ss (Constant or varying) f bs ne } Copyright © 1970 by Edition Wilhelm Honien Stockholm AB ‘Forthe U.S.A. Gac al t's postetsions and dependencies) and Canada: WALTON MUSIC CORPORATION Division of GIA Pu ‘www. alkonmusic.com Inemational Copyright Secured Made in US.A, Allright reservedeS EG ge fina Pid Rol ‘go-ri-@ glo-ri-a Pid- hol’ go-to A- na-| nus - @ Whisper (heavy exhalation) © Speak The Condctorgvs only the fst down bs, ‘each individual © Soon: ese on pitch © 4 ¥ =hishes/tomet vidual pitch possible, cut aut one by one: ... 65-4. ‘The points of entrance, durations, =—») and repeats { 4] are to be created ad lib by the Conductor. © Gradual thinning of the sound; Singers 0AGLEPTA Composer: Arne Melinas This piece well demonstrates the journey from rejected avant-garde to one of the most significant scores in children's and youth's choir music. In Stockholm, 1970, Arne Melinas, “Aglepta’, was the commission score for the first children’s choir competition, hosted by the Swedish Broadcasting Company in Stockholm. “Aglepta”, with its roots in a 19th Century invocation from the Swedish region of Smaland, was to be the compulsory piece. It was to be sung by each competing choir from the Scandinavian countries. Following strong opposition from some choirs after seeing the score, the compulsory demand was dropped. In spite of this, the Tapiola Choir chose to give “Aglepta” its premier performance in the program. The performance was a complete success, bringing great importance to this new piece. “Aglepta” displayed a new relation between modern choral setting and text. The five words of the spell are sung twice. The first time, which utilizes seven of the total eight systems of the score, the text is divided into phonetic fragments. The composer colors imaginatively with modern composition techniques until the individual “words” can no longer be distinguished. At the close in the eighth system, the text is once more revealed in a clear whisper and a duet. This was my own analysis and strategy for “Aglepta’: This composition is like a bewitched tree, The notes and chords marked in the score are like a trunk; the other sounds are the branches and the foliage. Both aspects are first examined and then put together. A new kind of tree of human voices has been born. THE TAPIOLA CHORAL SERIES The artistic instrument of children's and youth choirs is a very young one - it was actually bom following the Second World War; before then, you were limited to the traditional boy's choirs. The music composed directly for children's and youth choirs is therefore very young as well. Since the founding of the Tapiola Choir in 1963, the choir has aimed to bring this particular music to performance. A great number of Finnish and international composers (among them Aulis Sallinen, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Erik Bergman, Bengt Johansson, Olli Kortekangas, Veljo Tormis, Norman Luboff and R. Murray Schafer) have since collaborated with the choir. And so @ quite new and artistically high level of repertoire has been born, completely void of all the stock "music for children" mannerism. It has also been the effort of the Tapiola Choir to find and perform arrangements that may open up new perspectives on well known material. “There are arrangements and then there are arrangements" - the quality of the arrangement, the musical idea and how it has been realized for this particular purpose is what counts. The Tapiola Choral Series has been created with the aim to present these arrangements and compositions and the hope that they may find their way to the North American Choirs. March 1994 £2 lal, al Tapiola Choir, Finland’ Professor Erkki Pohjola, Founder - Conductor, 1963-1994 i) il l 7399973541 Kari Ala-Péllanen, Conductor 1994-