Programme Note
Works ‘en abyme’ bear within themselves miniature reflections of themselves. The term ‘mise en abyme’ was coined by Andre Gide and possibly came from the language of heraldry.
The French word ‘abyme’ (a variant spelling of ‘abime’) means ‘abyss’, suggesting ideas of depth, increasing velocity, descent, infinity, interiority, spiraling, vertigo… At a simple (literal) level these suggestions are manifested in this work in nested descending scales that increase in velocity and occurrence, though as material feeds back on itself these structural markers are increasingly obscured.
The player, too, enters a kind of abyss as the work progresses and their control over the increasingly-diversifying material is put in jeopardy.
en abyme was commissioned by Mette Leroy as part of her Doctor of Musical Arts performance and thesis research, and was premiered by Leroy, under the auspices of the Karlheinz Company, at the University of Auckland in May 2007.
- Commissioned:
-
Commissioned by Mette Leroy
- Difficulty:
- Advanced
- Dedication:
-
for Mette Leroy
Add to selected results
