Performed by the IU Concert Orchestra on Sunday, November 12th 2023.
Conductor: Dr. David Dzubay

Program Notes:
"In Homer’s Iliad, the Khimaira (or “Chimera”) was described as a being “of divine stock… in the fore part a lion, in the hinder a serpent, and in the midst a goat, breathing forth in terrible wise the might of blazing fire” (translation by A.T. Murray). The terrible beast is said to have terrorized the Lycian countryside of what is now modern-day Turkey, reaping destruction wherever it roamed. Musically speaking, the theme of hybridity is established at the very beginning of Khimaira, during which a grandiose minor-key fanfare is weaved with jagged interjections of increasingly obscure tonality. This dialogue soon detonates with a brutal juxtaposition of the C major and F-sharp major triads- a sonority commonly called the “Petrushka” chord (so called for its iconic use in Igor Stravinsky’s ballet by the same name). David Pogue (co-author of “Classical Music for Dummies”), writing about the Petrushka chord, said that this compound harmony “clashed horribly”- well, what better musical effect for a hybrid monster?

After the grotesque blaze of the introduction fades into smoke, the music takes a more straightforward approach, invoking the epic urgency of John Williams’ music for Star Wars or the caustic martial wit of Dmitri Shostakovich. During the moments of greater intensity, one can imagine the abhorrent Khimaira locked in vicious combat with the Greek hero Bellerophon, who had been tasked with vanquishing the beast by the Lycian King Iobates. The insistent force of this material eventually liquifies into music of a more mysterious and magical character, one which might conjure up the forbidding gloom of the Khimaira’s lair, or perhaps a vision of that primeval and arcane dimension beyond our earthly plane, from which such horrors may come.

After one last dissolution, the piece quietly returns to its familiar pulse with an understated recapitulation of earlier music until it suddenly rips into a sequence of increasingly tortured stops and starts, setting the stage once again for our mythical conflict. The apex of the drama is saved for the concussive finale, wherein the orchestra channels enormous bursts of flame straight from the Khimaira's dark heart. As the story goes, Bellerophon ultimately bested his foe by driving a lance into the monster’s fiery throat- a fitting image for the work’s violent conclusion."

свернуть