The Face without Pain or Fear or Guilt
Andrew McManus
About this work:
Logic and rationalism are the primary motive forces behind the main characters in Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. But these larger-than-life paragons of Objectivist philosophy still do fall victim to their human emotions. The chapter entitled “The Face without Pain or Fear or Guilt” finds Dagny Taggart, Hank Rearden and Francisco D’Anconia in heated and emotional argument over the situations their personal and professional lives have put them in. My work attempts to capture the tension of their interaction in musical terms. Pitch, rhythm and duration are tightly controlled in the opening section of the work. But as the expressive tension increases, these schemes begin to fall apart and are eventually obliterated at the piece’s climax. It scales back from this using an entirely intuitive (and much more tonal) pitch language and simple rhythmic structure. The work ends in a decidedly inconclusive fashion, perhaps reflecting the irresolvable nature of this conflict. The Face without Pain or Fear or Guilt is part of an ongoing series of works that explore Atlas Shrugged and its philosophical ideas.
Year composed: 2009
Duration: 00:08:00
Ensemble type: Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice:Other Combinations, 6-9 players
Instrumentation: 1 Flute, 1 Clarinet, 1 Piano, 1 Violin, 1 Viola, 1 Cello
Instrumentation notes: Doublings:
Flute=Piccolo=Alto Flute
Clarinet=Bass Clarinet
Piano=Celesta (optional)