Beskrivning
For SSSAAATTTBBB unaccompanied chorus.
No Matter sets excerpts from Samuel Beckett’s 1983 prose poem Worstward Ho. It is one of the very last pieces Beckett ever wrote and remains one of his mostÂenigmatic. The text concern’s the poet quest to reach a position of sheer emotionalÂnihilism, a Sysyphian struggle that is, logically, unattainable as a creative artist:‘nothing’ cannot be attained with words – “And worse may I be yet: the worst is not,Âso long as we can say ‘This is the worst’” (Shakespeare, King Lear IV.1.27-28). Compositionally the piece plays on Beckett’s linguistic games, using very minimalÂmaterial in a variety of permutations and combinations to provide a sense ofÂoverarching structure and musical drama. The title, taken from the text, is aÂreference to the task of attempting to achieve nothingness, as well as a casual turnÂof phrase. The work as a whole is a commentary on what the New Yorker, in itsÂ1984 review of the work, called “Beckett’s wrestle with the void to the point whereÂless would be nothing.”
Tarik O’Regan
February 2009
Innehåll
No Matter
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