Instrumentation
2.picc.2.ca.2.bcl.2.cbsn - 4.2.ptpt.2.btbn.1 - timp (=susp.cym/rototom) - perc(4): crot / glsp / handbell / t.bells / xylo / siz.cym / slide whistle / 2tgl / flexatone / metal guiro / brake drum / 2 frying pans (small and medium) / c.bell / tins / clash cyms / siz.cym / China cym / opera gong / tam-t / whip / castanets 6 wdbl / vibraslap / 8 tpl.bl / sleigh bells / 2tamb / SD / tabla / 2 carboard boxes / 5 tom-t / 2 kick drum / BD - harp – pno - cel (=pno I tuned ¼ tone sharp) - strings (double basses: all require a low B extension)
Availability
Score and parts in preparation
Programme Notes
Like artists throughout history, I have been drawn to the multifaceted and sometimes contradictory myth of Lilith, who, according to Hebrew texts, was Adam’s first wife. Intoxicated by her seductive beauty and beguiling personality, they all brought new nuances to her story - there are as many Liliths as there are interpreters of her. My work, conceived as a ballet without choreography, adds another.
The first movement, an expressive adagio, evokes desire and fear at the same time – it celebrates a union of opposites. Lilith dwells in the ruins after abandoning Adam; from these vestiges, Renaissance-inspired polyphony emerges, its lines sharp and with the clarity of poison.
The second movement is divided into two parts. 'Three Angels' describes a torturous labyrinth in which a battalion of three seraphim seek out the fugitive Lilith. 'Vals de la huida' – ‘Waltz of the Escape’ - is tragic and grotesque, bordering on hysterical.
The third movement also has two sections. In Hebrew, Lilith (Leilit) also means ‘nocturnal’; ‘Nocturna’ explores this aspect of her nature. Musically speaking, it is a study of volume, manipulating space and timbre as if it were a sound sculpture. In ‘Euphoria’ Lilith arrives in the modern city and joins in a wild orgy, as the masses are swept up by her seductive force.
FC