Elegy I

Elegy I ‘Jealousy’ has been named after John Donne’s poem of the same name. This English poet (1572-1631) wrote an entire series of elegies, each with its own theme. Jealousy can trigger various emotions, ranging from disappointment, grief, or regret, to madness and anger. All these emotions have been incorporated into this composition. Jacob de Haan was inspired by three different works of art: a poem (the aforementioned poem by John Donne), a painting by the Norwegian painter Edvard Munch (Jealousy in the Garden) and an old French chanson about jealousy (Je ne l’ose dire) by the sixteenth-century French composer Pierre Certon. The music refers repeatedly to thischanson - sometimes through key notes from the melody that serve as the starting point for new, isolated themes and sometimes through quotations of the original version.