Karel Van Marcke (b.1967) graduated from the Royal Conservatory in Brussels with first prizes for music theory and classical percussion. He then obtained a Master’s degree in Composing & Arranging with a supplementary diploma in jazz piano. His compositions have been characterized by the research into several styles and by the quest for a natural way to integrate different compositional techniques. This approach paid off in 2000 and 2005 with the award of the composition prize BAP Sabam at the European Jazz Contest in Hoeilaart and in February 2004 he was guest composer at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels for the Belgian Jazz Composers’ Week.

The suite Faust was commissioned by puppet theatre Tejooter Aabazjoer (Aalst, Belgium) in 2015. The eight pieces reflect four moods: happy, dance, open and introverted. Play the works in any order. Each time, the titles will combine to form a different poem. Do you play Faust live? Please publish your chosen order of the pieces and thus your self-formed poem in your programme booklet.

Instrumentation:

• 3 B-flat Clarinets
  
• Bass Clarinet