Asyla (for orchestra)

Thomas Ades – Asyla

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This composition has four movements and takes 22 to 25 minutes to perform. The movement list is as follows:

I.
II.
III. Ecstasio
IV.
It is scored for a very large orchestra, which, in addition to the most common instruments, should also include two pianos (a grand piano and an upright piano tuned one quarter tone lower), six percussionists playing a large range of instruments, and a celesta.[8]

The piece starts with an untitled movement with cowbells and the flat piano, which is immediately followed by the horns and the high-pitched sound of the strings. The general atmosphere of the movement becomes much more agitated when the rest of the orchestra joins in progressively. The second movement begins abruptly and suddenly changes to a soft melody played by the bass oboe. Then the strings take over with a style which has been classified by some critics as Wagnerian.[3] The sound starts to dissipate towards the end of the movement, fading out using the highest and lowest registers simultaneously.

The third movement tries to resemble « the atmosphere of a massive nightclub with people dancing and taking drugs ». It has a steady rhythm which has been compared to Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring.[1] The music here is much more insistent than in the previous movements and is much more vivid and lively. After reaching a climax echoed by the strings, the fourth movement becomes calmer at the beginning, and suddenly turns violent when a tutti chord initiated by the horns bursts towards the end of the piece. Asyla ends in a quiet but trembling manner.[3][9]