Stuart MacRae composed a trio for clarinet, cello and piano for the 2014 McEwen Commission. The piece, Ixion premiered on Thursday 6 November 2014 at the Concert Hall, University of Glasgow.
Performed by Yann Ghiro, Duncan Strachan and Simon Smith. The piece takes its title from the Greek myth in which Ixion is tricked by Zeus into seducing a cloud (Nephele) in the shape of Zeus's wife, Hera; his eternal punishment is to be fixed to a burning wheel in the heavens.
Watch a scored excerpt of the Ixion premiere
Listen to… Ixion by Stuart MacRae in full
Programme note
King Ixion, in Greek mythology, violated the code of hospitality by murdering his father-in-law while he was a guest at Ixion’s own feast. A crime of such treachery was hitherto unknown, and Ixion was cast out. Zeus took pity on him and welcomed him, but again Ixion proved himself unworthy and lusted after Zeus’s wife Hera. When Zeus proved Ixion’s deceit, he punished him by binding him to a revolving, flaming wheel.
The piece is comprised of eight ‘moments’, discrete yet continuous sections that each focus on a particular musical trajectory or atmosphere (and the musical materials associated with these).
The first moment contains all the materials of the piece in embryo, and each subsequent moment focuses on a particular one of these – though not in the same order. These are (in order of appearance): broken chords (arpeggios) that can open out in different shapes and directions; declamatory repeated notes (first heard in the clarinet); an uneven (short-long) rhythm; a sonorous held chord; a very quiet emerging chord.
Although subsequent moments may appear to depart quite considerably from these archetypal ideas, everything in the piece stems from some extension or combination of them.
The piece does not follow a narrative; but the image of Ixion eternally turning in space on his wheel of fire (a galaxy!) was very much in mind as I composed several of the piece’s moments – an image at once distant and tangible, poignant and majestic.
Stuart MacRae 2014
Performer biographies & full details of the Ixion premiere can be found in the McEwen concert programme 2014.
L to R: Duncan Strachan (cello), Yann Ghiro (clarinet), Dr Jane Stanley (Bequest curator), Simon Smith (piano), Stuart MacRae (composer)
Stuart MacRae
Stuart MacRae (b.1976) has established himself as one of the most distinctive composers of his generation, writing music of elemental power and emotional subtlety. His works include a Violin Concerto (2001), Hamartia for cello and ensemble (2004), and Gaudete for soprano and orchestra (2008), all of which have been performed at the BBC Proms. Works for the stage include the opera The Assassin Tree (2006) to a libretto by Simon Armitage, and the dance-opera Echo and Narcissus (2007). The opera Ghost Patrol (2012), a collaboration with writer Louise Welsh for Scottish Opera and Music Theatre Wales, won the 2013 South Bank Sky Arts Award for Opera and was shortlisted for an Olivier Award.