clarinet, percussion, soprano and contrabass - 12 min.
Program Notes:
Passion, with text by German Expressionist poet Georg Trakl (1887 - 1914), offers a disjunct, hallucinatory narrative of shifting images and figures, juxtaposing Orphic and Christian myths, all tinged with death and sexual guilt. This musical interpretation plays upon the fused dualities and fractured unities within the text. Succulent, incestuous dissonances arise from the inter-breeding of equal-tempered and justly-tuned harmonies, while melodies spawn halos of encircling doppelgängers, only to draw them back in with a stony embrace. The English translation is by Dr. Petra Watzke, who collaborated with the composer on the poem's interpretation.
Performance History:
World Premiere: January 22nd, 2010
Conrad Prebys Concert Hall, University of California, San Diego
Meghann Welsh, soprano, Ariana Lamon-Anderson, clarinets, Dustin Donahue, percussion, Mark Dresser, contrabass, Aleck Karis, conductor
2nd Performance: August 7th, 2010
New Music Forum Festival – San Francisco Community Music Center
San Diego New Music Collective: Meghann Welsh, soprano, Curt Miller, clarinets, Dustin Donahue, percussion, Scott Worthington, contrabass, Paul Hembree, conductor
3nd Performance: August 8th, 2010
Swarm Gallery – Oakland, CA
San Diego New Music Collective: Meghann Welsh, soprano, Curt Miller, clarinets, Dustin Donahue, percussion, Scott Worthington, contrabass, Paul Hembree, conductor
Recording
Score