WILFRED OWEN AT THE GATES (2015)
For Piano Solo
Duration ca. 30:00
PROGRAM NOTES
In 11 movements:
The Spiral (a)
Paradiso
“and the bayonets’ long teeth grinned”
“full nerved — still warm,”
Purgatorio
“all their eyes are ice”
“it was after football, when he’d drunk a peg”
Inferno
“guttering, choking, drowning”
Strange Meeting
The Spiral (b)
Wilfred Owen (1893-1918) was one of the most gifted poets of the early twentieth century. He wrote most of his mature works while serving as a soldier in the British army during World War I. Tragically, he was killed in action just a week before the armistice at the age of just 25. His poems — many published posthumously — strip away the supposed romance of war, depicting armed conflict as a twisted hellscape of tedium, desolation, fear, and death.
Wilfred Owen at the Gates draws inspiration from six of Owens’ poems, layering them onto a structure derived from Dante’s Inferno. As the piece progresses, the musical language grows darker. The final movements, which draw on some of the young poets’ most dire imagery, paint a bleak picture of art in the time of war.
Commissioned by Yumi Suehiro. Premiered by Yumi Suehiro at the National Opera Center, New York, NY (March 2016)
SCORE PREVIEW
