Agape Aria
2011
Agape Aria was written as a piece for two ensembles that would meet on the day of the concert. It features an oboe and three percussionists that present most of the musical material, with a string sextet positioned around the edge of the stage acting first as a resonating chamber, then increasingly taking a more active role.
The character of the piece is loosely inspired by the ancient Greek notion of agape, as set out particularly in the New Testament. Its generally used translation is ‘love’, but is distinct from the love one might have for family, friends or partners. It is unearned, unconditional, unrewarded and unending – philosopher Slavoj Žižek describes it as ‘political love’, for it requires the renunciation of any favour towards family, friends and loved ones (as Christ says in Luke’s Gospel, ‘If anyone come to me and does not hate his father and his mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters – yes, even his own life – he cannot be my disciple’).
This notion of an eternal, unchanging quality laced with a concomitant undertone of violence has for a while fascinated me, and this piece tries to exhibit these characteristics. There’s something quite claustrophobic and savage about this most beautiful of notions – like a good piece of music, agape as a concept is compelling and beautiful yet unsettling and ambiguous.
Instrumentation: oboe, 3 percussionists, 2 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos
Duration: c. 10 mins
Premiere: 18th March 2011 by Vaganza and Chimera Ensemble, Cosmo Rodewald Hall, Manchester