The Tragic... the Ecstatic... the SublimE?

for saxophone quartet, duduk, trumpet, theremin and live-electronics (2013)

ca. 7'

The Tragic... the Ecstatic... the Sublime? gives a musical representation of a philosophical search into the domain of the sublime. In particular the sublime in art. But what is the sublime? Is it a thing, a feeling, an event or a state of mind? The sublime is mostly defined as having the quality of such greatness, magnitude or intensity, whether physical, metaphysical, moral, aesthetic or spiritual, that our ability to perceive or comprehend it is temporarily overwhelmed. But what is the sublime?

The Tragic... the Ecstatic... the Sublime? was originaly written for and premiered by Ensemble 528Hz, with Evgeni Novikov, Stefan de Wijs, Michal Grycko, Juan Manuel Dominguez, Raphaela Danksagmüller, Evgenii Bondarev and Thorwald Jørgensen. Other instrumentations of the piece followed, adding bass clarinet and flute or a version without electronics.

A registration of the premiere of The Tragic... the Ecstatic... the Sublime? at het Veemtheater, Amsterdam: