Adam & Eve
Bunita Marcus
About this work:
Commissioned by Middleburg Festival for the Xenakis Ensemble, Holland.
"Marcus' Adam and Eve was a soft, undulating fabric of descending chromatic scales, heartbreaking suspensions and appoggiaturas, and an arpeggio figure that wandered from key to key as if searching for something. The confusion implicit in male/female relations was the subject, according to the composer, and the sadly determined mood called to mind the Adagio from Mahler's Ninth, the same modulating suspension forcing new beginnings from crused hopes. It was never sentimental, just honest and vulnerable, a piece you wanted to take home with ou and comfort." --Kyle Gann, Village Voice
Year composed: 1987
Duration: 00:20:00
Ensemble type: Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice:Other Combinations, 6-9 players
Instrumentation: 1 Flute, 2 Percussion (General), 1 Piano, 1 Violin, 1 Cello
Instrumentation notes: There are two percussionists with exactly the same instrumentation. They are on either side of the stage. Instrumentation includes marimba, vibraphone and glockenspiel