To many the Viola in movement two of Antonio Vivaldi’s Spring is simply imitating the sound of the goat-herd’s dog barking. This is not just any dog, however, but an idealized dog, one that exists only in memory or perhaps doesn’t exist at all. The Viola line is also more than a sonic object but a role. Its bassline portraying something of the dog’s faithfulness to its master. In this way Vivaldi not only zoomorphizes the Violist but anthropomorphizes the dog. Another interpretation could be that the dog is simply holding the bassline because it is physically below us and we the listener are the goatherd.
In Pastorale (2022) I try to articulate how this movement not only describes a human-animal relationship but power dynamics between people.
Moreover, I want to explore how these dynamics can be subverted through a musical project.
Written for SPLICE Institute 2022 for a premiere by Elsie Bae Han
12.30.22 . 8pm CEST . Resilience Festival 2022: Resilience Sounds Part II . Teatro Del Fuoco, Vicolo Cutino 6, 71121 . Foggia . IT
Roberta Michelini, Viola
12.03.22 . 8pm EDT . Bleep Blorp: A Master's Recital . The Boston Conservatory, Ipswich Building 106 , 132 Ipswich Street . Boston, MA . US
Elsie Bae Han, Viola
07.02.22 . 10am EDT . SPLICE Institute 2022: Concert 1 . D1005, Multimedia Room, Dalton Center, Western Michigan University, College of Fine Arts . 1300 Theater Drive, Kalamazoo, MI . US
Elsie Bae Han, Viola
Elsie Bae Han, performing