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Colin Matthews

Composer

He has … brought musical architectronics to a personal pitch of mastery.

— Paul Driver, The Sunday Times

Continuum (1998-2000). Mezzo soprano & large ensemble

Two poems by Eugenio Montale (1896 -1981) are the centre of the work: Crisalide (Chrysalis) and Casa sul mare (House by the sea). The first of these is set in the original Italian, the second in the fine English translation by Jonathan Galassi. They are framed by two epigrammatic fragments from the French poems Rilke wrote towards the end of his life.

Two instrumental ‘interludes’ come at the end of Crisalide : a turbulent continuation of the poem, spilling over into a sombre postlude; and before the final stanza of Casa sul mare – an almost funeral-march like interruption of the poem. The closing Rilke epigram echoes the opening: just as a continuum has no end, so the work spirals back to its beginning.

Categories: Ensemble, Voice

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27 April, 2021 - Seascapes (World Premiere)
Nash Ensemble
Wigmore Hall, London

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Useful Links

Faber Music
NMC Recordings
The Holst Foundation

© 2021 Colin Matthews · Website by Bookswarm

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