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Scoring & Instrumentation
Mz-Sop, Vcl, Pf
Alternate Title
-
Year Authored (or revised)
Duration (min)
14
Movements
1. Accepter le Vide
2. Détachement
3. Décréation
4. Metaxu
5. Beauté
Files & Media
Audio
Mitchell_Metaxu.mp3
Audio file
Video
-
Sample Pages
-
Detail
Description
Metaxu is a Greek word for the boundary between the material and spiritual worlds. The passage through is possible by meditation as well as music. My interest in women mystics and stumbling upon Weil’s book inspired the piece, which took shape as a work for two new faculty members, Sharon Campbell and Noah Rogoff. The melodic and harmonic resources grow from a group of set classes from (0167) to (01267) and (012367). The textures, use of the sets in embedded layers, soloistic searching melodies in the cello, and especially in #4, Metaxu, the crossing of the voice and cello parts, with the voice and cello basically on top of each other, are meant to symbolize the image of metaxu and bring out the liminal qualities of the music.
First Perfomance
ACA Festival 2009
Recording
-
Text Language - Non English
Text Source/Author
from Simone Weil’s La Pesanteur et La Grâce (Gravity and Grace).
Title Number
Ensemble Type
solo voice(s)+2 to 6 instruments
Genre/Theme
Music by women
poet/author featured
Instrument
Mezzo-Soprano
,
piano
,
cello
Purchase Options
The text for Metaxu (2008) is from Simone Weil’s La Pesanteur et La Grâce (Gravity and Grace). Weil, born to a well-to-do Jewish family, embraced the social teachings of Jesus (although she never was baptized.) She preferred to live and work among the poor and died of tuberculosis, refusing the proper nutrition and medical attention that the poor could not afford. My setting uses short phrases from different sections of her book.