Aggeloi III (2010)
for solo soprano
9 minutes
Program Notes
Aggeloi III: à 6 belongs to a family of works inspired by the idea of messengers in Sophoclean tragedy. The text is derived from the final messenger scene in Oedipus at Colonus. The messenger has just witnessed the miraculous passing of Oedipus, who, absolved from his sins, entered Hades with the honors of a god. Utterly awed by the incident, the messenger rushes to the Athenians to describe what took place. The first movement of Aggeloi III depicts a bewildered messenger that is struggling to articulate the extraordinary event to a possibly disbelieving audience. The second movement conveys the sense of awe; it is a simultaneous setting of six text fragments in a paradoxical 6-part polyphonic texture performed by a single singer. The individual melodic threads gradually weave a tree-like structure throughout the register of the soprano’s voice.
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Performances
February 21, 2019 Black Box Theater, New England Conservatory, Boston, MA. Nina Dante.
October 19, 2018 Studio Z, St. Paul, MN. Nina Dante.
April 6, 2018 Constellation, Chicago, IL. Nina Dante.
March 31, 2018 Wind River, Santa Cruz, CA. Nina Dante.
March 30, 2018 The Center for New Music, San Francisco, CA. Nina Dante.
January 31, 2018 Black Box Theater, New England Conservatory, Boston, MA. Nina Dante.
September 26, 2013 City of Chicago’s Comfort Station, Chicago, IL. Nina Dante.
May 2, 2011 Club Oberon, Cambridge, MA. Jennifer Ashe.