Monumenti

Monumenti

Violin and Cello
Duration: 9:00
YouTube

 

“Dorothy Hindman contributed “Monumenti,” a duo inspired by Cindy Sheehan’s anti-war protests in which images of confrontations, arguments, periods of repose, humor and ridicule were easy to conjure from the two opposing instruments.”
~Michael Huebner, “Duo premieres five works,” The Birmingham News, Sunday, March 05, 2006

Program Notes:

Monumenti (2005) for violin and cello
The initial inspiration for Monumenti came from Cindy Sheehan, who sparked the largest anti-Iraqwar protest thus far, proving that  it is still possible for a single person to influence the world through their actions. The opening unisons in Monumenti, which gradually spread to multiple voices, reflect this idea.  However, living in Rome and surrounded by constant, crumbling reminders of past individuals and events, the idea of “monumenti” took on deeper meanings.  These include: the fragmentary, imagined ideas that monuments project of past individuals or events, and the incompleteness of our understanding of them; or the purely aesthetic experience of a monument whose history is unknown. Imbedded in monument is the word moment, (and almost, momentum) a good reminder that there is a present aspect and power to every monument.  Musically, these differing aspects of monuments are created through powerful but fragmentary ideas. The fragments are like limbless marble torsos; stirring nonetheless, as the mind fills in the missing parts with a degree of uncertainty. Each small event gradually becomes very important, coming together to create a tableau which still projects this idea of decaying incompleteness.

Monumenti for violin and cello was written at the American Academy in Rome in October – November, 2005, for Karen Bentley Pollick and Craig Hultgren.

Premiere: February 27, 2006
Birmingham Art Music Alliance’s
BENTLEY POLLICK/HULTGREN DUO ELECTRIC concert
Hill Recital Hall
Birmingham-Southern College
Women and Human Dignity conference
Birmingham, AL
Commissioner: Karen Bentley Pollick and Craig Hultgren

Recordings: Tightly Wound: Music for Strings, innova 965