The Elephant and the Dove
Duration: 12 minutes
Opus: 71
Date: 2020
ORIANA
Information
“There have been two great accidents in my life,” Frida Kahlo once wrote in her notebook: the terrible crash that left her "broken" and the time she met the artist Diego Rivera, who quite literally became the love of her life.
Referring to themselves as “The Elephant and the Dove”, the couple first met in 1922 and began an intense, and fiery, relationship which lasted until Frida’s death in 1954.
This work is cast in three movements, each based around one of their works, and draws inspiration from them rather than attempting to be an accurate depiction.
1. PROMENADE
DREAM OF A SUNDAY IN ALAMEDA PARK (Diego Rivera)
In this opening movement all the characters gather for a Sunday afternoon promenade to show off their finery, meet their friends, goad their enemies and, in a stately and restrained manner, enjoy the festivities. To complement the percussion section, the back-row cornets and trombones are required to play small percussion instruments.
2. NOCTURNE
THE LOVE EMBRACE OF THE UNIVERSE, THE EARTH (MEXICO), MYSELF, DIEGO AND SEÑOR XÓLOTL (Frida Kahlo)
A self-portrait that celebrates the final resolution of the Rivera’s' marriage. Here Frida is the earth mother/Madonna nurturing the baby she could never have - her "Dieguito'' (Diego Rivera).
As the years went on, Frida took a more and more motherly role in relation to her husband Diego Rivera. He loved to be pampered, and she discovered that playing mother made it easier to indulge his mischief. She confided her maternal feelings to her journal: "At every moment he is my child, my child born every moment, diary, from myself."
This nocturne features a duet for flugel and euphonium and a solo for cornet with all other parts playing supporting
roles.
3. FINALE
THE DETROIT INDUSTRY MURALS (Diego Rivera)
This closing movement is, as the title suggests, rhythmic, mechanical and busy, just as the depiction of the subject in Rivera’s murals. It is in a modified rondo form with slight changes to the material as it returns.