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The Australian Music Centre's catalogue does not include any recordings or sheet music of this work. This entry is for information purposes only.
It is listed in our catalogue because an event featuring a performance of this work was included in our calendar of Australian music. Details of this performance are listed below.
Work Overview
Sonata: Ode is a musical reflection on an ancient poem, "The Exaltation of Inana." The author, Enheduanna, an ancient Sumerian high priestess, is said to be the oldest attributable poet in human history. Enheduanna's poem is a devastating account of divine feminine trust, violence and exile. She reflects on trying mortal circumstances in first person, as well as the might of an important Sumerian goddess Inana: representative of love, fertility and war.
The music approaches this text in many ways, sometimes literally or metaphorically. Beyond textual meaning, the physical characteristics of the poetic medium are explored: verbal recitation; cuneiform inscriptions on stone; archaeological transcriptions of the cuneiform; transliterations of the Sumerian sounds; English translations and digitisation of every format.
The Sonata is in five moments, following the broad narrative trajectory of the poem. It is a three-movement (fast-slow-fast) sonata framed by a Prelude and a Postlude. Reflections on each movement follow, including quotes from The Exaltation of Inana that served as a departure point for that section.
Work Details
Year: 2019
Instrumentation: Piano.
Duration: 26 min.
Difficulty: Advanced
Contents note: I. Prelude: Crown -- II. Storm -- III. Silencing -- IV. “Be It Known...” -- V. Postlude: Light.
First performance: by Bernadette Harvey at Ode: Sonata Project (Museum of Contemporary Art) on 16 Jan 2020
Performances of this work
16 Jan 2020: at Ode: Sonata Project (Museum of Contemporary Art). Featuring Bernadette Harvey.
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