STASIS
Premiered at
Stiftskirche Viktring, Klagenfurt
12.07.2023
Text: Antigone, Sophokles & Medea, Euripides
Gustav Mahler Kompositionspreis (2.Preis)
Premiered by Cantando Admont
Conductor | Cordula Bürgi
SATB
Duration: 6'
Program note
Stasis (στασις) describes physical, social or metaphorical states of standstill or immobility in which no further development or change takes place. In ancient Greek politics, stasis describes civil war-like conditions within the polis.
STASIS juxtaposes two key moments from the ancient tragedies Antigone by Sophocles and Medea by Euripides.
Numerous is the monstrous, but nothing more monstrous than man: this line comes from Antigone's famous choral song and praises the inventiveness and achievements of mankind, but also speaks of its hubris and the potentially destructive consequences of human activity. Against the wishes of her father, King Creon, Antigone decides to bury her brother Polynices. Her actions represent an ethical and moral act that brings her into direct contradiction with the laws of the state represented by Creon.
The second part of STASIS is based on a chorus line from Medea by Euripides. Do you hear the cry, do you hear it, of the children? forms the dramatic climax of the tragedy, when Medea kills her own children. The drama raises profound questions about the "nature of motherhood", mechanisms of power, betrayal and revenge and explores the limits of human capacity for suffering and moral judgment.
While Antigone is primarily caught up in a conflict between human and universal laws, the motifs in Medea are more personal and intense. The similarities and differences between their motifs are reflected in similar musical textures, which are, however, composed in opposite directions. The texts appear strongly elongated and are absorbed into the texture. Slow glissando movements of individual notes create a constantly transforming floating field. Hörst du den Schrei... begins in piano and builds up to a "sky-screeching" dynamic climax followed by a crash into the abyss.
Critique
Musikforum Viktring - Nichts ist ungeheurer als der Mensch
Kritik. Gustav Mahler Kompositionswettbewerb. „Cantando Admont“ beschert uns einen berührenden bis erschütternden Abend mit Musik auf Höhe der Zeit.
"Während sich wenige Kilometer weiter in der Ostbucht des Wörthersees Tausende in Schlagerseligkeit wiegten, ging es in der Viktringer Stiftskirche buchstäblich zur Sache: „Zahlreich ist das Ungeheure, doch nichts ist ungeheurer als der Mensch“ – mit dieser Zeile aus dem Chorlied der Antigone und den unheimlichen mikrotonalen Flächen seiner Komposition „Stasis“ hebt Komponist Reinhold Schinwald unsere Welt aus den Angeln. Das vierköpfige Vokalensemble „Cantando Admont“ legt wie die apokalyptischen Reiter alles Leid der Welt in ihre Stimmen. Sie lassen uns das Auf und Ab des Klagens über die „Stasis“, den Stillstand im Bürgerkrieg, fühlen, ohne uns eine Erlösung anzubieten. Welch erschütterndes Finale des Konzerts der heurigen Preisträger des Gustav Mahler Kompositionswettbewerbs des Musikforum Viktring"
Gilbert Waldner, 14. Juli 2024
Musikforum Viktring - Nichts ist ungeheurer als der Mensch
Critique. Gustav Mahler Composition Competition. "Cantando Admont" presents us with an evening of music that ranges from touching to harrowing and is in tune with the times.
"While a few kilometers away in the eastern bay of Lake Wörthersee thousands were swaying to the beat of pop songs, the Viktringer Stiftskirche literally got down to business: "Numerous is the monstrous, but nothing is more monstrous than man" - with this line from the choral song of Antigone and the eerie microtonal surfaces of his composition "Stasis", composer Reinhold Schinwald turns our world upside down. The four-piece vocal ensemble "Cantando Admont" puts all the suffering in the world into their voices like the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. They make us feel the ups and downs of lamenting the "stasis", the standstill in the civil war, without offering us any redemption. What a harrowing finale to the concert by this year's winners of the Gustav Mahler Composition Competition of the Musikforum Viktring."
Gilbert Waldner, 14. Juli 2024