Katabasisfor solo cello - ca. 10' |
No reference recording available at this time. :(
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Score (8.5x11) – $22 
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Katabasis is a term for a journey of descent. There are many such journeys chronicled throughout mythological history – Orpheus and Dante’s Inferno being among the most popular. Katabasis is a work that descends into the wildness of life and music. It moves beyond the refined image on the surface and exposes the gritty reality that exists behind it.
The opening movement, Aleppe, gets its name from an unknown word found in Dante’s Inferno. Uttered by a demon guarding the lower circles of hell, nobody has been able to identify and translate the word; however, many have connected it to the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This unidentifiable beginning serves as the source of all the material that comes later.
Toward Madness marks the turn of this material toward the manic. Standing in contrast to the opening movement, Toward Madness expresses the swirling winds of a hurricane threatening destruction.
Following this furious movement is a brief moment of reprieve. Canto acts as the calm after a storm and pays homage to Benjamin Britten’s Suite No. 1 for Cello. This lyrical, multi-layered movement provides the performer an opportunity to be freely expressive in painting the lines of the melody. However, like standing in the eye of the hurricane, there is more to come.
Contrapasso means to “suffer the opposite” and, ending where we started, is inspired by Dante’s Inferno in which souls suffer in a way that is in contrast to the way they lived. Here, this final movement is full of wrath and fury – the opposite of the lyrical, chorale-like characteristic of the movement before it.
Katabasis was commissioned and premiered by cellist Holden Bitner.
The opening movement, Aleppe, gets its name from an unknown word found in Dante’s Inferno. Uttered by a demon guarding the lower circles of hell, nobody has been able to identify and translate the word; however, many have connected it to the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This unidentifiable beginning serves as the source of all the material that comes later.
Toward Madness marks the turn of this material toward the manic. Standing in contrast to the opening movement, Toward Madness expresses the swirling winds of a hurricane threatening destruction.
Following this furious movement is a brief moment of reprieve. Canto acts as the calm after a storm and pays homage to Benjamin Britten’s Suite No. 1 for Cello. This lyrical, multi-layered movement provides the performer an opportunity to be freely expressive in painting the lines of the melody. However, like standing in the eye of the hurricane, there is more to come.
Contrapasso means to “suffer the opposite” and, ending where we started, is inspired by Dante’s Inferno in which souls suffer in a way that is in contrast to the way they lived. Here, this final movement is full of wrath and fury – the opposite of the lyrical, chorale-like characteristic of the movement before it.
Katabasis was commissioned and premiered by cellist Holden Bitner.