Witches' Cauldron
Eduard de Boer (as Alexander Comitas)
This work also appears under its Dutch title, De Heksenketel. It bears the designation Opus 38, no. 2a.
General Info
Year: 2001 / 2003
Duration: c. 10:30
Difficulty: VI (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Opus 33 Music through HaFaBra Music
Cost: Score and Parts - €236.00 | Score Only - €48.00
Instrumentation
Full Score
Flute I-II-III (III doubling C Piccolo)
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
B-flat Cornet I-II
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium I-II
Tuba
String Bass
Timpani
Percussion, including:
- Bass Drum
- Chimes
- Crash Cymbals
- Glockenspiel
- Snare Drum
- Suspended Cymbal
- Xylophone
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
Commissioned by the Förderverein des Symphonischen Blasorchesters der Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg. Dedicated to Sef Pijpers sr.
- Program Note by composer
This work is inspired by the three witches that appear in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. In the fourth act of Scene I, the witches are busying themselves brewing a magic potion in a cauldron. While doing so, they sing the famous song whose repeating refrain is ‘Double, double, toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble.' Each witch has a verse preceding that refrain, and this song determines the structure of the whole composition.
After an introduction that serves to evoke the atmosphere of eeriness and portray the evil and violent characters of the three witches, the actual brewing of the potion begins. From there on the music follows the structure of the song, with its alternation of stanzas and refrains. The last and lengthiest stanza has been transformed into music with a development character. The piece gets wilder and wilder as the liquid in the cauldron starts to bubble and steam ever more. It ends with a somber climax as the horrific potion is at last ready.
- Program Note by Jeff Girard, Midwest Sheet Music
Media
- Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown
- Audio CD: Royal Symphonic Band of the Belgian Guides (Yves Segers, conductor)
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- James Logan High School (Union City, Calif.) Wind Symphony (Adam Wilke, conductor) – 13 July 2015 (WASBE, San Jose, Calif.)
Works for Winds by This Composer
- Armenian Rhapsody No 1 (as Alexander Comitas) (1990)
- Caucasian Epode (1988/1994)
- Coming to Light (2015)
- Concert Overture Mindia 2020 (2020)
- Elegy for Tohoku (2011)
- From a Fairy Tale. See: Uit een Sprookje
- Homage to Dmitri Shostakovich (1978/1990)
- A Night on Culbin Sands (1999/2001)
- Symphony No. 3 (2013)
- Uit een Sprookje (as Alexander Comitas) (2005)
- Vita Aeterna Variations (2011/2017)
- Witches' Cauldron (as Alexander Comitas) (2003)
Resources
- Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music. "Eduard de Boer." Accessed 9 August 2015.
- Alexander Comitas website