Compositions
La racine du mal
for bass flute and soundtrack (2023, 8')
This is the soundtrack of La racine du mal. The work, written between July and December 2023, is based on the writings of the French philosopher and activist Simone Weil (1909-1943), who involved herself with the dilemmas, in particular the inhumane character, of early 20th century factory work. To gain deep insights she became a factory worker herself in the mid 1930s, and an agricultural labourer as well. Weil wrote extensively about her concerns and visions around the future of factory work, in letters, articles and essays, and in exchange with factory directors. Her uncompromising dedication took a heavy toll on her health. During the Second World War, age 34, she died from cardiac failure, apparently in relation with a self-imposed regime of starvation.
La racine du mal, for bass flute and soundtrack, takes text fragments from Weil’s essay La condition ouvrière as its basis. Weil states that when humans take up the role of things, and things take up the role of humans, this is the root of evil. Factory workers infinitely repeat just five or six gestures, yet they need to stay conscious, always prepared for the unexpected. Brief interruptions, which promote beauty and a sense of slowness, are absent from factory work, which thus lacks dignity and grace. Ceaseless cadence, which is contrary to rhythm - like the tick-tock of a clock, without beginning or end - makes the factory worker indifferent and brutal. After a day in the factory, the worker has just one thought: it has lasted long.
The soundtrack, or fixed media, is constructed from Simone Weil’s recorded text, which is cut up, mutilated and repeated. Also the bass flute part is derived from the text, through formal, analytical, spectral and semantic operations and transformations. The various sections of the piece explore different kinds of musical “machines”, with different relations between the fixed media and the bass flute. The flautist on the one hand struggles to stay in the soundtrack’s footsteps, and on the other hand attempts to establish an autonomous role within the dense and dominating textures.
La racine du mal makes part of a cycle of works by Marinissen around Simone Weil's writings. The composer thanks soprano Agathe Labadie for her wonderful rendition of Weil’s texts. The composition of this cycle was kindly supported by the Dutch Fonds Podiumkunsten.
This is the soundtrack of La racine du mal. The work, written between July and December 2023, is based on the writings of the French philosopher and activist Simone Weil (1909-1943), who involved herself with the dilemmas, in particular the inhumane character, of early 20th century factory work. To gain deep insights she became a factory worker herself in the mid 1930s, and an agricultural labourer as well. Weil wrote extensively about her concerns and visions around the future of factory work, in letters, articles and essays, and in exchange with factory directors. Her uncompromising dedication took a heavy toll on her health. During the Second World War, age 34, she died from cardiac failure, apparently in relation with a self-imposed regime of starvation.
La racine du mal, for bass flute and soundtrack, takes text fragments from Weil’s essay La condition ouvrière as its basis. Weil states that when humans take up the role of things, and things take up the role of humans, this is the root of evil. Factory workers infinitely repeat just five or six gestures, yet they need to stay conscious, always prepared for the unexpected. Brief interruptions, which promote beauty and a sense of slowness, are absent from factory work, which thus lacks dignity and grace. Ceaseless cadence, which is contrary to rhythm - like the tick-tock of a clock, without beginning or end - makes the factory worker indifferent and brutal. After a day in the factory, the worker has just one thought: it has lasted long.
The soundtrack, or fixed media, is constructed from Simone Weil’s recorded text, which is cut up, mutilated and repeated. Also the bass flute part is derived from the text, through formal, analytical, spectral and semantic operations and transformations. The various sections of the piece explore different kinds of musical “machines”, with different relations between the fixed media and the bass flute. The flautist on the one hand struggles to stay in the soundtrack’s footsteps, and on the other hand attempts to establish an autonomous role within the dense and dominating textures.
La racine du mal makes part of a cycle of works by Marinissen around Simone Weil's writings. The composer thanks soprano Agathe Labadie for her wonderful rendition of Weil’s texts. The composition of this cycle was kindly supported by the Dutch Fonds Podiumkunsten.
© Arnold Marinissen 2024