w16383
| Title | Menological Music |
| Contributors |
Derek Ball (composer) |
| Composition date | 2006 |
| Duration (mins) | 10 |
| Category | chamber duet |
| Instrumentation | Vn Vc |
| Commissioned by | |
| Key signature | |
| First line | |
| First performed | |
| Notes | |
| Programme Note | I dedicate this set of pieces to my old friend, the Dublin violinist Max Factor, to celebrate our recent reunion after a long absence. I wrote it for him and cellist Peter Healy, with what I take to be the preferences of each musician in mind. The pieces take a mildly cockeyed view of the ancient Roman deities as remembered in the months of the modern calendar, and the plan is eventually to have one for every month. "Temporal Janus" Max was always a strong advocate of the Greek composer Skalkottas, while Peter has a more tonal orientation. Thus the music is a Janus, facing in modern and traditional directions at once, and tending a little in the Greek direction too! At the end, the violin seems to have softened its hard line, while the cello also seems to have compromised a bit : a good result! "Antipyretic Februa" The strange and complex Roman spring festival of Februa involved animal sacrifice, blood, milk, whipping, purification and fertility. Originally Februa may have been an Etruscan god, but the name became associated with the thongs, cut from the skins of the sacrificed goats, used to whip young women during the festivities. Februa is also close to the word for purifying (februare), and the word for fever (febris) which was thought of as purifying. "Green-fingered Mars" Mars is better known for his connection with war than with agriculture. For the ancient Romans the two activiies were linked. This piece starts by suggesting the 'Tubilustrium' but ends in the fields with the crops and animals. "April Aversion" April is probably originally from Aphrodite, the Greek goddess associated with erotic love, but also at times with war, the underworld and death. The title of the piece plays on this dichotomy, as well as the fact that the French 'averse' means... 'a shower'. The music is also ambiguous. "Illusory Maia" Being married to a very practical hands-on Vulcanologist was likely a trying experience and could be the reason for all the confusion surrounding the Roman goddess Maia, after whom our month of May is named. The ancient Romans mixed up her Roman and Greek versions, and she herself wasn't sure whether she was Maia or Maiesta. On top of that her name sounds like Maya, the Hindu philosophical concept of the unreality of appearance. Well, no wonder the piece turned out a bit strange! "Anserine Juno" The cackling of geese is portrayed in this tribute to the goddess after whom our month of June is named. That honour is given to the violin. The rest of the action rests with the cello, including reference to the Gauls (e.g. bars 2,4,16-17) whose invasion plans were cunningly foiled by those cackling geese. But who traianed geese to be so much more reliable than human sentries? - well, Juno of course! She was also responsible for married life, and I'm sure any connection between that and cackling geese is purely coincidental. "July in March" Julius Caesar had a whole month named after him - July. Well, I'd say that takes ostentation a bit far. Formerly the month had been called plain old Quintilis, but that wasn't good enough for him. Of course we know what happened : stabbed to death he was on the steps of the Senate, in March, by a group of conspirators. They could at least have waited till July, for neatness. I bet you'll find those conspirators were led by a disgruntled Roman by the name of Quintilis (played here by the violin). Let me think, Julius's last words? - weren't they something like "Et tu, you brute Quintilis." "August : A World Safe for Autocracy" The life of Caesar Augustus is like a blue print for 21st century politics. Our modern rulers have obviously learned a thing or two from him. His PR was so well spun that he should have been a saint, had he not already been a god. (Who does that remind you of? - I know: there's a long list.) He conquered most of the known world (that narrows it down a bit)while doing philosophy and statesmanship in his spare time (he could walk and chew gum). He packed the Senate with his cronies and then, without anyone seeming to notice, he abolished the rudimentary system of democracy enjoyed by republican Rome. (Isn't it remarkable how few words need to change to make history applicable to the present day!) He had the habit of executing large numbers of his enemies (yes, you know what I'm getting at) but was proud that he resisted the quite understandable temptation to torture them beforehand (bah! the parallel has broken down - nothing's perfect, is it). Every summer we heedlessly celebrate the man who, over 2000 years ago, made the known world safe for autocracy. This piece dramatises the process whereby freedom is blithely abolished "for your own good". the democratic violin wants to go its own way but is gradually reined in by the imperial cello, incidentally using a theme similar to uncle Julius's from the July piece. |
This work is associated with the following collection items:
|