Program Note:

In March of 2019 I went to see an exhibition of the Swedish artist Hilma af Klint’s paintings at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City, at the recommendation of my sister. In addition to being a painter, Klint (1862-1944) was deeply involved in mysticism, and, through séances and meditation, frequently communicated with beings she and others referred to as High Masters. She used abstract and symbolist painting as an outlet for her spirituality, before modernists such as Kandinsky.

Klint’s paintings not only impress me for their elegant and ritualistic use of line and color; I feel a strong artistic connection to her, finding a resonance in her philosophy of art as a bridge towards something beyond the frameworks of reality.

My composition was written with Klint’s ethos echoing in my mind. Throughout the work, a feeling of contact with something beyond is brought forth. I envisioned vaporous, weaving, and rising lines. I wanted to avoid the direct nature of words, so for most of the piece the soprano sings phonetic sounds, although traces of various languages can be detected.

Performances:

• Hayley Boggs and Jeff Siegfried, National Sawdust, Brooklyn, New York, July 28, 2019.