Scotoma
’Scotoma’ is a piece for quartet: zither/guzheng, percussion, cello & indian harmonium. It is written for the ensemble Mimitabu in 2015.
The title comes from the Greek word scótos, which means darkness. The piece is inspired by a visual phenomena where you see dark areas in your field of view. It can sometimes be described as if you saw something looking like transparent vibrating entities moving in front of you; almost like a supernatural experience. The inspiration for a piece often comes from a title and this time the idea is about personal experiences. No one sees and hears the same thing.
The piece was after a while during the writing process put together with a poem by a maltese poet called Alfred Grech. Since there is no translation of his work, the translation below is only a try and not a professionally made translation.
’Scotoma' was commissioned by RANK for KompFest in Malmö (Sweden) in April 2015.
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Material to download:
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Scotoma
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Live performance with the ensemble Mimitabu playing 18/4 2015 in Malmö, Sweden. This is the second performance during the evening.
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TAQA’ DALMA KBIRA
Musbieħi isfar lellux u f'moħħi
Jintefa d-dawl u taqa' dalma kbira
U bħal fi nżul ix-xemx iterrqu lura
Ħsibijieti, raħħala bieżla jerġgħu
Jinġabru għall-wens ta' darhom
U jġorru lura magħhom l-għaja.
Poem by Alfred Grech
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SLÄCKER LJUSET & SPRIDER MÖRKRET
Ljus, gult som krysantemum och tankar
Släcker ljuset och sprider mörkret
Och såsom solnedgången täckandes hela vyn
Är tankarna, som livliga invånare
Samlade i hemmets trygghet
Återvänder försvagade.
Translation by Ylva Lund Bergner
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DARKNESS SPREAD
A light yellow chrysanthemum and thoughts
Turning off the light and darkness’ spread
And like at sunset often covering the view
Are the thoughts, like villagers bustling again
Gathered for the comfort of home
Carried back with fatigue.
Translation by Ylva Lund Bergner