Carl Vine: Elegy (1985)

Abstract

"The expression of grief has been a recurrent focus in Western art. Musical works as different as Josquin's Deploration sur la mort de Johan Okeghem or Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem possess unique expressive qualities that, at least in part, relate to the sense of loss experienced by the composer. Carl Vine's Elegy is a short work for instrumental sextet in memory of Peter Harthoorn, a friend who died suddenly in 1985. In a radio discussion considering the work, the composer Roger Smalley referred to it as a piece in which the 'dark side' of the composer's personality emerges. The alternation of plaintive and lyrical melodic writing and quite savage, loud outbursts suggests this quality. Throughout the course of Elegy lyrical expression is gradually overwhelmed and almost swamped by loud, texturally complex writing. The juxtaposition of opposites mentioned here provides a model for the work. Whilst it opens with a brief, loud flourish, the character of the opening is quiet, diatonic, tonal and tuneful. Brief interruptions of loud material soon begin to occur, suggesting the unfolding of a dramatic structure. Yet even in the early stages, where the cello takes an overtly soloistic and melodic role, intricately patterned ostiruzti in cross rhythms create an uneasy background (see, for example, bars 23-7 and 39-51 ). After each loud intrusion in the work (at bars 15-16, 30-7 and 99-148), the music is rebuilt, frequently using ostinati or similar figures as an accompaniment to lyricism. The loud outbursts increase in length and impact until the final and longest outburst at bars 99-148. This sustained loud section surpasses the role of interruption and emerges as the dominating and climactic part of Elegy. The music that follows as a kind of coda is high and dreamlike - a gradual dying away. A striking quality of drama is apparent in the way the music unfolds. The clear characterisation of ideas as either passive or violent also suggests this. Vine's extensive experience as a composer for ballet is evident here: the music always focuses the dramatic point in a direct manner. Elegy was commissioned with assistance from the Music Board of the Australia Council by Flederman, of which Vine was a founding member. The scoring is for flute ( doubling piccolo), cello, trombone, piano four hands {the second player doubles electronic organ), and one percussionist. The variety of colours and instrumental sub-groups that such a combination permits is exploited by Vine. A feature of the work is, in fact, the roles into which instruments are cast: cello as lyrical and expressive; flute, upper piano and tuned percussion predominantly decorative; trombone, lower piano and organ providing sustained textural underpinning; and untuned percussion, aggressive and loud. Whilst Elegy has many strongly tonal elements (diatonic harmonies, pedal points and other moments of tonal repose, triadic and quartal based melodic writing), their presence is quite frequently offset by Vine's placement of such ideas within an otherwise dissonant context. Likewise, the density and intensity of rhythmic writing have a counterbalancing effect on the pitch material. Obviously, this combination of diverse elements is a consciously eclectic act. Other unifying features in the work are the use of repetition of small melodic fragments, the isometric use oflonger phrases and the gradual expansion of the cello's opening figure. In addition, there are strong references to the passacaglia in the use of repeated patterns oflong notes in the trombone and bass parts of the piano and in sequences of chord progressions (see especially the trombone and organ parts in bars 99-148). Perhaps the logic of this 1s not solely musical. Passacaglias, chaconnes and ground basses have often been associated with the theme of death: Dido's lament from Purcell's Dido and Aeneas or the Crucifixus from Bach's B minor Mass are but two outstanding examples." -- Andrew Schultz Show more