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Solo
2021
Electronics
Harp
- Program Notes
- “dans les dents de la guivre” is the opening movement of "Valentina V.," an extended monodrama for harp, multichannel electroacoustic sound, and lighting. In this work, the harpist adopts the persona of a historical figure: 14th-century noblewoman Valentina Visconti, whose life ended in tragedy and exile. "Valentina V." presents an imagined scene near the end of Valentina’s life in which she is confined to her chamber with only her precious harp to confide in. Musical materials are in part derived from Jacob de Senleches’s song “La harpe de melodie,” which he likely composed as a gift for Valentina to sing and play herself. The music of “La harpe” is at times referenced directly; at other times, it emerges in a fragmented or distorted form, representing Valentina’s reminiscences as they are filtered through her fractured psyche. Drawn from Victor Hugo’s poem “Canaris,” the opening movement’s title “dans les dents de la guivre” (“in the teeth of the viper”) refers to the Visconti family’s coat of arms: a serpentine creature devouring an infant. “dans les dents de la guivre” intersperses fragments of “La harpe de melodie” with sounds imitative of the mythical serpent, engendering a feeling of trepidation, anxiety, and suffocation. "dans les dents de la guivre" was awarded First Prize in the Salvatore Martirano Memorial Composition Award (2022), First Prize in the ASCAP/SEAMUS Student Commissioning Program (2023), and an Honorable Mention in the Giga-Hertz Production Prize from Zentrum für Kunst und Medien, Karlsruhe.
- Recording Notes
- This recording is in a binaural stereo format. For the best experience (simulated surround sound), please use headphones.
- Record Label
- n/a
- Performer Credits
- Hope Cowan, harp
- Publisher
- Slip Change Music (ASCAP)