2009

for solo marimba and chamber orchestra

By:

• John Psathas

Duration:

20' 00"

Instrumentation:

for solo marimba, 3 perc.; hp.; strings

Programme Note

djinn/genie
• a supernatural creature able to appear in human form and to possess humans.
• a guardian spirit assigned to each person at their birth
• the djinn are made of fire, man is made of clay, angels created of light.

1. Pandora:

Each god helped create her by giving her seductive gifts. Pandora opened a jar releasing all the evils of mankind leaving only Hope inside.

The immortals know no care, yet the lot they spin for man is full of sorrow; on the floor of Zeus’ palace there stand two urns, the one filled with evil gifts, and the other with good ones. He for whom Zeus the lord of thunder mixes the gifts he sends, will meet now with good and now with evil fortune; but he to whom Zeus sends none but evil gifts will be pointed at by the finger of scorn, the hand of famine will pursue him to the ends of the world, and he will go up and down the face of the earth, respected neither by gods nor men.
Homer, Iliad

2. Labyrinth

Labyrinths are symbols that speak to deep levels of consciousness. The trip into the center and out again mirrors our lives and our personal journeys. The first few steps might be hesitant. With each successive turn that takes us closer to, then farther from the center, we examine our choices until the last turn takes us into the still, motionless center.

The center of a labyrinth is the center of the Mystery. For some, it can be the largest, deepest, most profound Mystery, others find only their own shadow, or emptiness.

In a labyrinth, the way out is the way in. There’s no wrong turn, or wrong choice. It is surrendering to the journey itself. We emerge from the last turn blinking, astonished.

Much of the marimba writing in this movement was inspired by the Oud/Outi and Setar playing of Vasili Papanikolaou, Dariush Tala’I, Xaik Yiazitzian – Antonis Aperghis, Rahim Alhaj

3. Out-Dreaming the Genie

Echoes of the warm safe danger conjured forth by the music of childhood TV shows, in which we may have been in the land of the giants, lost in space, or on a magic carpet with an inscrutable genie, but we knew always that

everything
was
ok

Wasn’t it?

Stories and images that convinced youthful us we would turn our crawling into walking, then into running, and finally that we would lift up from the earth and fly free.

Commissioned:

Commissioned by Pedro Carneiro and the Vector Wellington Orchestra with funding assistance from Creative New Zealand and Jack Richards

• Vector Wellington Orchestra

Funders:

• Creative New Zealand

Performance History

	10 Apr 2010	Performed by Pedro Carneiro (marimba) and the Vector Wellington Orchestra conducted by Marc Taddei at the Wellington Town Hall in Wellington
		Marc Taddei    Vector Wellington Orchestra
	18 May 2010	Performed by the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra in a special ‘schools concert’, conducted by Marc Taddei, with Pedro Carneiro as soloist in the Auckland Town Hall.
		Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra    Marc Taddei
	18 May 2010	Performed by the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra in a free public concert, conducted by Marc Taddei, with Pedro Carneiro as soloist in the Auckland Town Hall.
		Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra    Marc Taddei
	22 May 2010	Performed by Pedro Carneiro (marimba) and the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marc Taddei at Douglas Lilburn Auditorium in Christchurch
		Christchurch Symphony    Marc Taddei