El Cimarrón (Henze)

El Cimarrón (The Runaway Slave) is a composition by the German composer Hans Werner Henze, written when the composer lived in Cuba in 1969-1970. It is subtitled Biographie des geflohenen Sklaven Esteban Montejo (Biography of the runaway slave Esteban Montejo), and is based on the autobiographical passages recounted by Montejo to Miguel Barnet in 1963. Montejo was also a veteran of the Cuban War of Independence (1895-98).

Henze described the score as a recital for four musicians. They consist of a baritone who portrays El Cimarron himself, a guitarist, a flautist and a percussionist, although all four musicians play percussion instruments during the work. The flautist also plays the Japanese ryuteki and the Italian scacciapensieri, as well as the four conventional orchestral flutes.

The work received its premiere at the 1970 Berlin Festival, with William Pearson as El Cimarron, and the soloists Karlheinz Zoeller (flute), Leo Brouwer (guitar) and Stomu Yamash'ta (percussion) under the direction of the composer. The UK premiere was in June 1970 at the Aldeburgh Festival with the same forces.

Tableaux

The work is divided into fifteen "tableaux" which are essentially songs, although these make several vocal demands on the baritone, including laughter, whistling, shouting, screaming and falsetto.

1. Die Welt (The World)
2. Der Cimarrón
3. Die Sklaverei (Slavery)
4. Die Flucht (Flight)
5. Der Wald (The Forest)
6. Die Geister (The Spirits)
7. Die falsche Freiheit (False Freedom)
8. Die Frauen (Women)
9. Die Maschinen (The Machines)
10. Die Pfarrer (The Clergy)
11. Der Aufstand (The Uprising)
12. Die Schlacht von Mal Tiempo (The Battle of Mal Tiempo)
13. Der schlechte Sieg (The Evil Victory)
14. Die Freundlichkeit (Frendliness)
15. Das Messer (The Knife)

Sources

• Walsh, Stephen (1996) El Cimmaron, CD liner notes, Deutsche Grammophon.