frigia (2011)

Commission: Lunar Ensemble / Barlow Endowment

Instrumentation: flute (doubling alto flute), clarinet (doubling bass clarinet), piano, violin, cello and soprano

Alternate Instrumentation: flute (doubling alto flute), clarinet (doubling bass clarinet), piano, violin, and cello

Duration: 13 minutes

Program Information:
frigia is inspired by the changing foilage of the New England fall and winter seasons, and is set to text written by the composer. Like the text, the piece is a skewed palindrome, with the outer sections mirrored around the word ‘frigia‘. The music’s noir and psychedelic qualities, painted in part by the low soprano writing and the juxtaposition of microtonal and diatonic clusters in the instrumental ensemble, are a reflection on the composer’s reinterpretation of beauty.

The word frigia is from the Flash Gordon comic series, where it the name of an ultra-modern ice kingdom ruled by Queen Fria, on the rogue planet Mongo.

Text:
leaf tombe [leaf falls]

splashes of red
cruel bite
bled their beauty away

frigia, all is withdrawn

bleach of silence
without breath
frost-coated embers decay

雪 jatuh [snow falls]

– text by the composer

Premiere:
March 13 2012 | Lunar Ensemble | Baltimore MD