Cocteau Images
Two Fantasies on Images
from Films by Jean Cocteu

for woodwind quintet (2011)

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Duration: 10 minutes

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Movements:

1. Les Miroirs

2. Le Magnifique

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Program Note:

For Cocteau Images I was inspired by moments from two classic films by Jean Cocteau. The first movement is a meditation on the use and idea of mirrors in the 1950 film Orphée. In it, Heurtebise explains to Orphée that mirrors are doors through which Death travels. "Mirrors are the doors through which Death comes and goes. Moreover, your whole life you look at yourself in a mirror and you will see Death at work like bees in a hive of glass." Cocteau's 1946 film La Belle et la Bête is the source of inspiration for the second movement. In this film, the Beast has a magical horse in his stable named Le Magnifique. If you wish to travel, he will take you anywhere. All you need to do is whisper in his ear, "Go where I go Le Magnifique, go, go, go."

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Premiere:

Kristen McGuire, flute; Stuart Breczinski, oboe; Nicholas Graham, clarinet; Miles Miller, horn; Dorian Antipa, bassoon

Berkman Recital Hall, The Hartt School, West Hartford, CT

May 1, 2011

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