forces: SATB (divisi)

duration: 6′ 30″

difficulty: Advanced

programme note

This comical accapella arrangement of the popular Berliner dialect folk song, “Bolle reiste Jüngst zu Pfingsten”, taps into the satire of the original. Here the Story of the ill-fated Bolle is caricatured to the extreme; the roughhouse energy of Berlin’s delinquents, a night full of adventure and a morning of sorrowful hangover are captured with a myriad of vocal techniques to simulate instrumental sounds and speech alongside adventurous choral textures that utilise the full harmonic potential of the choir, always with a tongue in its cheek.

Bolle (2022) was originally commissioned by Northern Spirit with assistance of the Bundesmusikverband Chor und Orchester’s “Neustart Amateurmusik” fund (2022). It is dedicated to Andreas Hilboll.