Hyo-shin Na

AKHMATOVA’S MUSE

(2001)

for flute/alto flute, taegeum, oboe, piri, and 25 string kayageum

Commissioned by Citywinds and the Contemporary Music Ensemble Korea, this piece was written after reading Anna Akhmatova's poem "The Muse".

The musicians coordinate with each other in a flexible manner, determining the relative lengths of notes and dynamic levels by listening to the other players (attentive to the muse) instead of busily counting beats and measures.

The Muse

Anna Akhmatova

When at night I await her coming,
It seems that life hangs by a strand.
What are honors, what is youth, what is freedom,
Compared to that dear guest with rustic pipe in hand.
And she enters. Drawing aside her shawl
She gazed attentively at me.
I said to her: “Was it you who dictated to Dante
The page of The Inferno?” She replied: “It was I.”

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