HE WILL DIE HOWLING
“How many lives does a soul live? What is the sound of eternity? Of finality? Of Reincarnation? What is the sound of emptiness?” -Nebal
InfraSound presents our final concert of the 2022-2023 season “He Will Die Howling” at The LGBT Center in Manhattan. Performing works by Ursula Mamlok, Nebal, Peter Maxwell Davies, and a world premiere by Elizabeth Gartman, InfraSound explores the intersections of queerness, politics, mental health, religion, culture, and music.
Ursula Mamlok’s Polarities creates tension between disparate modes of expression. Between quiet frenetic and energetic playing juxtaposed with contrasting lyrical and singing passages. This work symbolizes not only the idea of polarization in a musical sense, but a political one as well.
Nebal’s work Al Wahdat Al Wujud similarly produces a binary between belief and faith. Nebal says “Just as doubt distorts the mind, let it reflect the yielding of your beliefs.” When confronted with questions about faith, how do we as humans deal with our differing opinions and belief systems? How is our current society furthering these tensions? How is organized religion sometimes used as a tool for facism, and why is it such a powerful tool?
Elizabeth Gartman writes about the world premiere of her piece “Extreme[ly Good] Design:” The title Extremely Good Design quotes executive director of San Diego County Gun Owners Michael Schwartz describing the perseverance and flexibility of the AR-15 model. This notorious assault weapon boasts a decades-long history of modifications, with each modification following a specific ban upon various aspects of the weapon. The bans, instituted by the state of California and others, were created in an attempt to prevent semi-automatic assault weapons from getting in the hands of civilians, where these weapons have been used in deadly mass shooting events.” Despite these attempts at regulations, gun violence has been at an all time high with a reported 48,830 deaths from gun violence in the USA in 2021 (the highest yearly total to date). Without proper gun control regulations, the safety of everyday citizens are at risk.
Finally, Peter Maxwell Davies monumental music theater work “Eight Songs for a Mad King” was inspired by a music box that was owned by King George III. The king had used this music box to attempt to teach his bull finches to sing. Throughout the work, the piece explores the idea of the King’s “madness,” using words from King George III himself to portray a deterioration of the actor’s mental state and manic episodes. This work shines a light on the reality of mental illness, and the fact that it is often the case that mental health treatment is unobtainable for the majority of the population, and can affect anyone regardless of economic status.
This concert is supported in part by the Urusla Mamlok Foundation and Figma, as well as our fabulous donors. Thank you for your support!
