Botti: Lament: The Fallen City
Expected to ship in 1-2 weeks.
- Composer: Susan Botti (1962-)
- Instrumentation (this edition): Piano, Violin
- Originally for: Soprano, Piano Trio (Piano, Violin, Cello)
- Work: Lament: The Fallen City from Gates of Silence (2010)
- Binding: Spiral Bound
- Size: 13.2 x 8.5 inches
Description
Inspired by Virgil's Aeneid, Gates of Silence consists of 3 works which are connected but independent. There is a reiterated rhythm of loss, but also one of renewal and hope and continuation. in addition to musical ideas woven throughout these works, time displacement is a recurring element in each. Moments in the present/current reality are juxtaposed with moments infused with dreams, imaginings and memory. in the Lament, the gospel song is a memory serving as hope. in Aeneas' last desperate hours in Troy, the ghost of his wife appears to him, urging him to continue, to live. in the Journey, during a suspension of momentum, disorientation occurs, a siren-like song removes the traveler from the relentless drive to escape or to arrive. Finally, in Dido Refuses to Speak, each moment is a new "present" reality and a memory simultaneously.
Lament: The Fallen City (violin & piano)
A city (Troy, New Orleans, Baghdad, Greensburg, Port-au-Prince…) falls through conflict or nature's twists and turns with the loss of home, heart, and in many cases, loved ones. Virgil begins the story of the fall of Troy with the words: "Sorrow, too deep to tell… feel and tell once more" (trans. Fitzgerald) We are compelled to retell the story. Spirits of the fallen and the future urge us forward. The memory of a gospel song/chant ("…I'm goin' thru, no matter what the problem is, I'm goin' thru…") is woven into the anguish and fear transforming helplessness into hope.
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