Portrait (1999)

FĂŒr Ensemble

Verlag: Novello & Co, London

Bemerkung: Stuart MacRae: While I was beginning to think about some of the ideas for this piece, a gift I received of a book on the American painter Mark Rothko renewed a fascination with his work which I had had since I first saw some of his paintings a few years ago. I also had the opportunity, while working on the piece, to visit the large retrospective of his canvases at the Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
. My initial intention for this piece was for the music to aspire to the condition of Rothko. However, this would have been a pointless and self-defeating aim, as ultimately a piece of music must be directed through time and thus takes on its own meaning and its own life. Furthermore, the music must have meaning in of itself, and not be dependent on a listener's awareness of its subject or intentions. And lastly, the great variety of moods and visions expressed in the selection of Rothkos I saw eclipsed any notion that "the condition of Rothko" could validly be summed up or represented. Therefore, I would say that my piece Portrait is a tribute to Rothko - neither a portrait of him, nor of his ideas, but a "portrait of an idea" in Rothko's words - that which expresses in an elemental, abstract and forceful way the vision which inspired it. https://www.wisemusicclassical.com/work/11117/Portrait--Stuart-MacRae/.

Kunstwerk(e)

This work is licensed under CC BY 4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
ao. Univ.-Prof. Dr. Monika Fink-Naumann
monika.fink@uibk.ac.at
Institut fĂŒr Musikwissenschaft / Department of Musicology
UniversitÀt Innsbruck / University of Innsbruck
Haus der Musik
UniversitĂ€tsstraße 1
A - 6020 Innsbruck