The Mirror of Avicenna

The Mirror of Avicenna for 14 players was composed immediately after the 27 Destructions as a response to the compositional idea of the previous piece. After the destruction of everything, a new method of construction needed to be found. Victor Ekimovsky dedicated this work to himself and says in his foreword, “Everyone probably knows this condition, where nothing is satisfactory, where nothing is interesting, where everything seems meaningless, where dissatisfaction with oneself turns into a fixed idea, and you are totally disappointed by existence … For moments like this, the great philosopher and healer Avicenna strongly recommended that you sit before a mirror and talk to yourself, repeating over and over, ‘I am strong! I am wise! I am beautiful! I am BETTER THAN EVERY ONE!’”

The work is based on a common cultural archetype, the movement “from darkness to light.” The idea is realized through various means: by registers – three instrumental groups (woodwinds, brass, and strings) move against each other in waves; by sound coloration – from a mixed tutti to the climax in the resplendent brass; by dynamics – the whole piece consists of a single long crescendo; by rhythm – the initial polyrhythmic instrumental layers gradually conflate into monorhythmic motion; and by melodic material – the initial upward-tending melodic lines separate at the climax and then move in different directions. Valeria Zenowa

The breakthrough into “light” in the finale is achieved by means of harmony and rhythm. The regular 16th-notes and the dissonant web of sound are suddenly replaced by triads and complex rhythms; eight bell-like cymbals sound before a soft clarinet recalls the opening theme.

Valeria Tsenova