Deus ex machina

Deus ex machina (1996)

s sax, b cl, tpt, tbn, pno, 2 perc, 2 vln, vla, vcl, db

Duration: 8 minutes

Deus ex machina, ‘the god from the machine’, was a device often used by Euripides and other Greek dramatists to resolve plot complications which otherwise might have remained insoluble. The ‘machine’  was a sort of crane which could convey an actor through the air to give the impression of flying. The device has continued to be used from Renaissance drama to Elizabethan masques and from 17th century opera to the present day, when supernatural forces intervene in disputes, or between warring factions, to restore harmony. The basic material for this work has been drawn from two different accounts of the phenomenon of thunder: an extract from music depicting a thunderstorm in Gluck’s opera Iphigénie en Tauride (first performed in Paris in 1779) and based on the play by Euripides; and a ritual dance performed be the Ewe people of Ghana in West Africa for the Cult of the God of Thunder.

First performance by Charlie Barber + Band at the Torch Theatre, Milford Haven on 2 October 1996
with Simon Stewart (soprano saxophone), James Scannell (bass clarinet), Alan MacDonald (trumpet), John Randall (trombone), David Appleton (piano), Tim Wright (percussion), Graham Bradley (percussion), Jeff Moore (violin), Tim Davies (violin), Rachel Stott (viola), Sharon McKinley (cello), Paula Gardiner (double bass)

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Performances

02.10.96	MILFORD HAVEN	Go West Festival, Torch Theatre
15.10.96	CARDIFF	University Concert Hall
17.10.96	MANCHESTER	Royal Northern College of Music
19.10.96	FROME	Merlin Theatre
23.10.96	LONDON	Southbank Centre, Purcell Room
22.07.98	NEWPORT	St Woolos Cathedral
23.07.98	BRECON	Cathedral
30.09.98	LONDON	St Giles Church, Cripplegate
02.10.98	PRAGUE	Divadlo Archa / Theatre Archa
03.10.98	BRNO	Exposition of New Music
22.10.99	HAVERFORDWEST	St Martin’s Church
23.10.99	WREXHAM	The Stiwt
24.10.99	YORK	Late Music Festival, De Gray Rooms

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