Description
The piece opens as a cry for help. It is the struggle and despair of being locked up, wings clipped, denied access to life, without knowing when it will all be over. Relations, isolation, the longing to meet others again -- everything we experienced together during the COVID lockdown.
This is a work tailor-made for a choreographer, and once again I am struck by how visually Kverndokk composes, and with what agility.
The source of inspiration here is stated by the composer himself: it is a tribute to Leonard Bernstein, inspired by maestro Bernstein's symphony "The Age of Anxiety".
But what is impressive and fascinating is this: despite the nod to his hero in his themes that touch upon scenes in "West Side Story, such as "Mambo" and "The Rumble", it is Kverndokk through and through, and not Bernstein.
When all is said and done, I would like to quote Stephen Sondheim, who also wrote the lyrics to "West Side Story", and the protagonist of his musical, "Sunday in the Park with George": Finishing the hat, mapping out the sky! That is always what it's about.
The work was written during the pandemic, but it would be inappropriate to associate it with this period, for the dramatic scope of the work is larger than what the lockdown of the country gave us.
The contemplative theme, which is introduced after barely four minutes and which also contains an echo of "Maria" and "Tonight", is a melodic passage you can spend all day with, play over and over, drink wine to, letting your thoughts wander. Linger there, for soon desperation will really cut loose, before fading away and ending with an open question: will the world ever be the same again?
How does an idea originate? In Kverndokk's universe two lines from a poem can give rise to an entire work:
Today is that day, the day that carried
A desperate light that since has died ... Pablo Neruda
