Het Raadsel van de Sfinks (The Riddle of the Sphinx) Music for a film by Jef CORNELIS

Composed in
1983

For
5 instruments

Composition
Clarinet, Violin, Cello, Percussion and Piano/Harpsichord.

Duration
55′

First performance
First Perf.: November23, 1983 at the Belgian Radio and Television (BRTN).

Dedicated to
Jef Cornelis

Recording available
VRT (Flemish Radio and Television)

Score
Musikproduktion Hoeflich

In 1983, Jef Cornelis made a documentary for the BRT (Belgian Radio and Television) about architect Charles Vandenhove, and Brewaeys provided the music. The Riddle of the Sphinx became his first official spectral composition.

The Riddle of the Sphinx was written during the period after Brewaeys had met Brian Ferneyhough at the Darmstadt Summer Courses for New Music. In 1982–1983, he maintained regular contact with Iannis Xenakis and, above all, with the great French spectralist Tristan Murail, who would become a close friend of Brewaeys. In the music for the architecture documentary, the influence of spectralism is clearly present for the first time. Brewaeys’ score consists of a series of variations on a classical theme that recurs throughout the piece, with each variation exploring new possibilities for the sound spectrum of the five instrumental parts. (Kevin Voets)