Moon Child
for treble choir, children's choir, and ensemble
Text: Anne-May Krüger
Full Score
Moon Child
for treble choir, children's choir, and ensemble
Text: Anne-May Krüger
Full Score
Mike Svoboda
Moon Child for treble choir, children’s choir, and ensemble (2025)
Text by Anne-May Krüger
Commissioned by the SÜDWESTRUNDFUK and written for the SWR Vokalensemble
Duration: ca. 16 minutes
Instrumentation
Bass Clarinet in B♭ (also Clarinet in E♭)
Contrabass Clarinet in B♭ (also Clarinet in B♭)
Soprano Saxophone in B♭
Alto Saxophone in E♭ (also Sopranino Saxophone in E♭)
2 Trumpets in B♭
mutes: Wawa (Harmon with stem), Harmon (= Wawa without stem), Straight, Cup, Pixie, Plunger 2 Trombones
mutes: Wawa (Harmon with stem), Harmon (= Wawa without stem), Straight, Pixie, Plunger,
Electric Guitar with volume pedal, wah-wah pedal, whammy bar, bottleneck, light brush, effects: reverb and others ad lib.
Fender Rhodes Piano, 73 keys (or digital simulation with master keyboard) with sustain pedal, volume pedal, wah-wah effect pedal
Children’s Choir (optional)
Treble Choir
Soprano Mezzo-soprano Alto
Performance Notes
Children’s Choir
Although the children’s choir is an essential element of the conception of the composition, it may be omitted, as its material is also sung by the soloists.
Soloists
Three soloists emerge from within the treble choir for several passages. In bars 131–156, the soloists hold urns from which an audio track is heard. The lids of the urns are opened (o) and closed (+) according to the notated rhythm, thereby filtering the audio.
Audio Technic
In bars 131–156, an audio track is played through Bluetooth speakers placed inside the three urns. The track may be played from any Bluetoothcapable device; however, the use of a small mixer is recommended for balance.
Pre-recorded Audio
The audio track consists of a mix derived from the music sung by the children’s choir in bars 290–308.
Moon Child
(by Anne-May Krüger)
be become becoming flesh glib glib glib glib globe moonstruck orb
swampy wallow waft in shallow waters while away the night stretch in wonder wax in moonlit hours moon moments
blue blooming sea stars unfold sweet translucent web wiggling limbs drifting
Hear nothing Leave words Space Say silence
Blackbirds talk life
Sleepy pleasure Moments fear time
be become becoming bone clenching, clasping paw corrals wave
hidden grins lurk promise silly laughter Trojan horsing pearls gulp the ocean slurp in greedy swallows sea potion
red reddish dim bubbling light lingers soupy whispers seep giddily drowning
Glass talk Nothing to say Nowhere Tones wanted
Slowly bridge time Ask something Answer love
be become becoming soul shedding feral mood homesick sprite
tightly bound in restless tossing pressing urging forth screeching farewells swirl in earthy vapors earth hours
gold golden gaily agog moon-faced apple core in hand lovingly stride
Moon Child
mallets, blend with the articulation of the E-Guitar
tremolo with a so brush, beyond the fretboard, (with Bottleneck?), cresc /descres with pedal
ree soloists, each with an urn containing a Bluetooth loudspeaker e lid is closed (+) and opened (o) in the notated rhythm
imitate the text parlando without adding consonants
e children’s choir is divided into three groups Each group sings the text on the notated pitch and in its own tempo one slow, one moderate, and one fast Within each group, the individual singers perform asynchronously with one another, each singer inserting pauses between repetitions of the text
Wawa-Pedal, cont u
with Superball, low, ad lib parlando parallel to the Brass with Cajon Brush on Skin
with Bottleneck as before, vibrato ad lib