Avgó

from the chamber-pantomim-ballet based on the poetry collection ”The Tale of Fatumeh” by the Swedish poet Gunnar Ekelöf (1907-1968). It is the tale of Fatumeh, a girl sold into prostitution by her mother, then for a while kept as a concubine by a prince, abondened but surviving by force of spirit. Although the story is conventionally tragic, the vitality of Fatumeh brings a completely new dimension to the story. The collection of poems are devided into two parts; the first naming the poems Naẓm 1-29, the second Tesbīḥ 1-29.

Avgó

Before the 29 Naẓm, inbetween the Naẓm and Tesbīḥ poems as well as after the last Tesbīḥ, Ekelöf have inserted 3 poems which he calls “ormhuvud” (Python-head). Avgó refers to the last one and the music serves as an outro of the chamber-pantomim-ballet. Avgó means “egg” in old Greek and is a symbol for rebirth.

The poem reads:

Avgó! Avgó! So she sees you the poor peasant wife who when the wooden plow has made a row lifts her face and wipes the sweat from her forehead before she starts on the next – Are you an egg in space that the hen laid with a rough shell or are you a wind-egg, a faded mirror for our plots and mountains? But the angel grabs her arm and points to the side There a Star just fell and left a space in the crescent Moon

The material of this electronic piece comes completely from recorded flute and clarinet parts from Fatumeh.