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Kate Soper
Helen Enfettered
for soprano, mezzo-soprano, and ensemble
clarinet in Bb, trumpet in C, percussion (one player), piano, violin, viola, cello, double bass (2009)| Duration | 25' |
|---|---|
| Movements | I. Whenever Helen Feels These Stresses... II. Whenever Helen Dresses Herself En Fête... III. Whenever Helen Needs Effervescent Refreshments... IV. Whenever Helen Seeks These Perverse Excesses... V. Whenever Helen Sleeps, Her Essence Enters the Ether... VI. Whenever Helen Enters Hell's Deepest Recesses... VII. Whenever Helen Sleeps, Her Feebled Rest Meekens Her... VIII. Helen Enters Her Greek Temple |
| Commission | Commissioned by Carnegie Hall through The Weill Music Institute as part of the 2009 Osvaldo Golijov/Dawn Upshaw Professional Training Workshop |
| Premiere | May 10, 2009; Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, NYC; The Osvaldo Golijov/Dawn Upshaw Professional Training Workshop Ensemble |
| Technical requirements | Piano lid is removed, with preparations as indicated in the score. |
| Publisher | PSNY |
Media
Program Note
The text of Helen Enfettered is from Christian Bök’s Eunoia, a contemporary addition to the Oulipo school of writing, in which severe technical constraints force innovative results. In Eunoia (“beautiful thinking” or “well mind”), the constraint is univocalic: five chapter-length prose poems use only one vowel apiece. At the heart of chapter “E” is the familiar ordeal of Helen of Troy. Excerpts used in Helen Enfettered focus on Helen’s psychological journey from anxiety and confusion (her helplessness vexes her), through a flight into debauchery and subsequent regret (the empress revels; her regretted deeds depress her), a descent into hell (she begs her redeemers, “redeem me!”) and, finally, an absolvent into spiritual release and literary immortality (she keens her vespers; she represents perfectness). The two vocalists embody the wildly different faces Helen presents throughout her trials, dramatizing her battling impulses to do good, to do bad, to live for pleasure, and to repent, while the distinct sound worlds of each movement throw this mercurial state of mind into vivid relief.
