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Alex Mincek’s Pendulum IX: “Machina/Humana” Premieres With Orpheus Chamber Orchestra

Mar. 30, 2012

Alex Mincek’s Pendulum IX: “Machina/Humana” Premieres With Orpheus Chamber Orchestra

The world premiere of Alex Mincek’s Pendulum IX: “Machina/Humana” this month marks the final premiere of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra’s innovative Project 440. A commissioning collaboration with New York City’s WQXR radio in celebration of Orpheus' 40th anniversary, Project 440 has featured new works from Andrew Norman, Alex Mincek, Clint Needham and Cynthia Wong, all premiered in the 2011-12 season. Alex Mincek writes:

Pendulum IX: “Machina/Humana” is the ninth piece in a series of works inspired by the simple swinging motions of pendulums, along with the complex forces these motions reveal. The works in this series mimic pendulum behavior by oscillating between basic musical oppositions: high/low, fast/slow, short/long, loud/soft, etc. These works are also characterized by more nuanced, poetic relationships between extra-musical oppositions; for example, “Machina/Humana” refers to the representation of mechanical versus human types of sound, shape and movement. (This is my homage to Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo, which, among other things, explores the conflict between logic and passion).

“Machina/Humana” alternates between austere, mechanical-like repetition and sinuous, lyrical continuity. And while the prevailing direction of the piece is perhaps best described as unfolding from mechanistic to humane, contrasts frequently combine and overlap.

Orpheus premieres Pendulum IX: “Machina/Humana on April 24 at Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center, with the New York City premiere taking place at Carnegie Hall on April 28.

Visit www.alexmincek.com and www.eamdllc.com/psny to learn more about the composer.

Alex Mincek
Pendulum IX: “Machina/Humana” (2012)
2fl(2.pic).2ca.1.bcl.2-2.2.0.0-perc-str
ca. 11’

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