Mystery Play (2012)
for orchestra
The Mystery Play is a theatrical genre that began appearing in medieval Europe to represent legends and stories featuring mysterious and supernatural events. My Mystery Play depicts the sorcery involved in composing music. I have always been fascinated by the idea of “music” and how it mysteriously manifests itself: a projective field of meanings where sounds come alive and take on the likeness of a very detailed drama. In order to represent the mystery of music, I wrote a score where sounds do not comment or give stage directions to a story but rather take on the features of the characters in their own story. The sound of fog, the sound of forests, the sound of evil witches, the sound of sweet fairies, the sound of suspended enchantments: this is what is brought to the invisible stage of this musical drama.
Commissioned by:
Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
First Performance:
Benson Great Hall, St. Paul (Minnesota, USA), 3 May 2012
The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
Roberto Abbado, conductor
Instrumentation:
2.2.2.2 / 2.2.0.0 / timp/perc (1) / archi (6.6.4.4.2)
Duration: 16’ ca
Score number catalogue Ricordi: (140751)