Valentina V.
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Commissioned by Hope Cowan with support from the American Harp Society
2021–2024 harp, immersive audio, and lighting Documentation List of Performances |
"…mysteriously dramatic and magical environment…the impressive beauty of this music gives the listeners a very special experience." – Huihui Cheng, composer
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Valentina V. is a composition for solo harp, multichannel electroacoustic sound, and lighting. Lasting approximately 30–35 minutes, the piece is inspired by my own musicological research into the medieval song “La harpe de melodie” and the provenance of the illuminated manuscript containing the song’s renowned pictographic musical score.
Valentina V. is conceived as a tragic monodrama in which the solo harpist adopts the persona of 14th-century noblewoman and virtuoso harpist Valentina Visconti (1371–1408). Research suggests that the medieval song “La harpe de melodie” by Jacob de Senleches — famous for its illuminated pictographic score — was likely composed as a vehicle to showcase Valentina’s prodigious musical talents. Married to Louis I, Duke of Orléans and brother of France’s King Charles VI, Valentina was eventually forced into exile after others at the royal court accused her of witchcraft. My piece presents an imagined scene near the end of Valentina’s life in which she is confined to her chamber with only her precious harp to confide in. This dramatic setting recreates a poetic image that proliferated during the centuries following her death, reaching a pinnacle of popularity in literature and art of the nineteenth century: that of the exiled Duchess mourning the death of her husband Louis d’Orléans. Filtered through the Romantic ethos and male gaze, portrayals of Valentina cast her as an archetype of the dutiful, self-sacrificing wife and mother. My revival of this legendary image strives to recenter Valentina’s grief on losses immediate to her own identity — those of her reputation, freedom, and agency.
Cast in five movements played without interruption, Valentina V. unfolds fantasia-like as its protagonist processes her grief through playing her beloved harp. Compositional materials are partly derived from “La harpe de melodie,” which is performed in full as the work’s penultimate movement. At other points in the piece, the song emerges in a fragmented or distorted form, representing Valentina’s reminiscences as they are filtered through her fractured psyche. The work’s electroacoustic component, in addition to augmenting the sound of the harp, incorporates pre-recorded sounds (speaking, singing, synthesized textures). Distributed over a loudspeaker array surrounding the audience, these sounds contribute to the work’s mysterious and dreamlike atmosphere. All elements of the piece — immersive audio, lighting, and dramatic actions of the performer — coalesce to engender an atmosphere not unlike that of a psychological thriller, whose narrative unfolds as a loose succession of “scenes” exploring various mental and emotional states of the protagonist. At its core, Valentina V. is a metaphor by which to confront timeless and universal issues: isolation and loneliness, loss and grief, anxiety and depression.
Drawn from Victor Hugo’s poem “Canaris,” the opening movement’s title “dans les dents de la guivre” (“in the teeth of the viper”) refers to the Visconti family’s coat of arms: a serpentine creature devouring an infant. This horrifying image symbolized the Visconti’s despotic stranglehold over the city of Milan. “dans les dents de la guivre” intersperses fragments of “La harpe de melodie” with sounds imitative of the mythical serpent, engendering a feeling of trepidation, anxiety, and suffocation.
Valentina V. is conceived as a tragic monodrama in which the solo harpist adopts the persona of 14th-century noblewoman and virtuoso harpist Valentina Visconti (1371–1408). Research suggests that the medieval song “La harpe de melodie” by Jacob de Senleches — famous for its illuminated pictographic score — was likely composed as a vehicle to showcase Valentina’s prodigious musical talents. Married to Louis I, Duke of Orléans and brother of France’s King Charles VI, Valentina was eventually forced into exile after others at the royal court accused her of witchcraft. My piece presents an imagined scene near the end of Valentina’s life in which she is confined to her chamber with only her precious harp to confide in. This dramatic setting recreates a poetic image that proliferated during the centuries following her death, reaching a pinnacle of popularity in literature and art of the nineteenth century: that of the exiled Duchess mourning the death of her husband Louis d’Orléans. Filtered through the Romantic ethos and male gaze, portrayals of Valentina cast her as an archetype of the dutiful, self-sacrificing wife and mother. My revival of this legendary image strives to recenter Valentina’s grief on losses immediate to her own identity — those of her reputation, freedom, and agency.
Cast in five movements played without interruption, Valentina V. unfolds fantasia-like as its protagonist processes her grief through playing her beloved harp. Compositional materials are partly derived from “La harpe de melodie,” which is performed in full as the work’s penultimate movement. At other points in the piece, the song emerges in a fragmented or distorted form, representing Valentina’s reminiscences as they are filtered through her fractured psyche. The work’s electroacoustic component, in addition to augmenting the sound of the harp, incorporates pre-recorded sounds (speaking, singing, synthesized textures). Distributed over a loudspeaker array surrounding the audience, these sounds contribute to the work’s mysterious and dreamlike atmosphere. All elements of the piece — immersive audio, lighting, and dramatic actions of the performer — coalesce to engender an atmosphere not unlike that of a psychological thriller, whose narrative unfolds as a loose succession of “scenes” exploring various mental and emotional states of the protagonist. At its core, Valentina V. is a metaphor by which to confront timeless and universal issues: isolation and loneliness, loss and grief, anxiety and depression.
Drawn from Victor Hugo’s poem “Canaris,” the opening movement’s title “dans les dents de la guivre” (“in the teeth of the viper”) refers to the Visconti family’s coat of arms: a serpentine creature devouring an infant. This horrifying image symbolized the Visconti’s despotic stranglehold over the city of Milan. “dans les dents de la guivre” intersperses fragments of “La harpe de melodie” with sounds imitative of the mythical serpent, engendering a feeling of trepidation, anxiety, and suffocation.
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Performances ("dans les dents de la guivre" only)
- SEAMUS National Conference, The DiMenna Center, NYC. April7, 2023.
- Electronic Music Midwest, Kansas City Kansas Community College. Hope Cowan, harp. March 11, 2023
- Giga-Hertz Award Concert, Zentrum für Kunst und Medien, Karlsruhe, Germany. Acousmatic version. November 26, 2022.
- Electric LaTex, Wortham Theater at Rice University. Hope Cowan, harp. November 4, 2022.
- Salvatore Martirano Memorial Composition Award Concert, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Urbana, IL. Julia Kay Jamieson, harp. September 29, 2022
- DMA Lecture-Recital — Wortham Theater at the Shepherd School of Music, Rice University. Hope Cowan, harp. Timothy Roy, electronics. Chapman Welch, live sound. Kurt Stallmann, lighting.