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- 19
- 1.1.1.1 1.1.0.0 perc(2). strings
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Between the Wings of the Earth by Canadian composer Michael Matthews
The title of Between the Wings of the Earth comes from a line in The Heights of Macchu Picchu, a twelve-part poetic cycle by Chilean Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda. Written after his 1943 visit to the ancient Incan site, Neruda’s poems reflect on the ruins of Macchu Picchu — rediscovered in 1911 — and their powerful resonance with themes of human endurance and forgotten histories. The excerpt that inspired this composition appears in poem VIII, in Nathaniel Tarn’s translation:
Come, diminutive life, between the wings
of the earth, while you, cold, crystal in the hammered air,
thrusting embattled emeralds apart,
O savage waters, fall from the hems of snow.
This poetic vision of nature as both elemental and deeply human forms the emotional and philosophical foundation of the piece. As scholar Robert Pring-Mill observed, Neruda evokes “surging nature and pre-Columbian man linked in their common dawn,” fusing past and present in an effort to illuminate the future. Consequently, the poem becomes not only a reflection on history, but also a personal and spiritual journey.
Between the Wings of the Earth mirrors this layered approach. Technically, the piece is constructed from five core musical ideas, all introduced within the first 60 bars. These ideas recur and evolve independently, sometimes overlapping and at other times diverging completely. As a result, the piece unfolds as a kind of musical tapestry — one that reflects our experience of nature and life itself: an ever-shifting sequence of related and seemingly unrelated events through which we seek coherence and meaning.
This work was commissioned by the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra with financial support from the Manitoba Arts Council. It received its premiere performance at Westminster Church in Winnipeg on March 24, 1993, conducted by Simon Streatfeild.
Reviews
The following review appears in the All Music Guide:
The title of this large-scale tone poem for chamber orchestra (nearly twenty minutes long) is from the line “entre las alas de la tierra,” from the poem “The Heights of Macchu Picchu,” by Pablo Neruda, the Nobel Prize winning Chilean poet. The composer1s intention was to describe musically Neruda1s impressions on visiting the old Incan city in 1943. He saw in Neruda1s poem a metaphor of humanity1s attempting to draw meaning from the experience of nature and life. The music is rich, dense, and mystical. It is based on five basic motives, all of which are presented within the first sixty measures. It is a complex and moving work, which requires some rehearing for the listener to experience its full impact, as its many ideas are often deeply layered over each other. Matthews was born in Newfoundland in 1950, and has studied and worked both in the United States and Canada.
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