Psychomachia

Instrumentation: Trombone and harp

 

Duration:  9 minutes

 

Year of Composition: 2015, rev. 2017

 

Premiere: 2016, Eric Scott Alexander Faculty Composition Recital,

University of Northern Colorado.

Frank R. Cook, trombone, Frances Cobb, harp.

 

This recorded version: 2017 revision. Solace Duo, Hannah Runting, harp; Jess Anderson, trombone

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Program Notes: 

The Psychomachia (Battle of Spirits or Soul War) is a poem by the Late Antique Latin poet Prudentius, from the early fifth century AD. When trombonist Frank R. Cook commissioned me to write him a piece for trombone and harp, I couldn’t help but to think of the popular image of a person with an angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other, each giving conflicting advice. After some research, I found the modern idea of the “shoulder angels” may have been inspired by the poem Psychomachia by the 5th Century Latin poet Prudentius, depicting the inner battle between vices and virtues. To quote Frank’s introduction to the piece when it was premiered fall 2015, “What we will have here is that inner monologue going on - but it’s not always the angelic instrument and the demonic instrument as you would think”.

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Watch: Performance by the Solace Duo, 1/25/2024 Royal Academy of Music, London.​​​​

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