H83 Gelsomina (2017)
First performed at Utah University, School of Music as part of the Libby-Live series of concerts on 10 February 2019 by Caitlyn Valovick-Moore, Piccolo and Keith Carrick, Percussion.
Instrumentation: Piccolo (and Low Woodblock), Percussion (Glockenspiel)
Duration: 2’
Programme note:
Gelsomina is the name of the character in Fellini’s ‘La Strada’ (played by Giulietta Masina; Fellini’s wife), who witnesses the death of the Fool (Il Matto; played by Richard Basehart) at the hands of her feckless boss, Zampanó (played by Anthony Quinn). It is she who repeats ‘Fool is hurt, fool is hurt’ at the end of the film. This 2’ or so piece for piccolo and glockenspiel is by way of a portrait of this rather lost, simple girl who seems to blow with the wind and have no control over the direction of her life. The piece is dedicated to Caitlyn Valovick-Moore and Michael Cox by way of thanks for their superb performances of the piccolo concerto, ‘Fool is Hurt’.
SH
19 September 2017
Past Performances:
10 February 2019 (World Première)
Caitlyn Valovick-Moore (piccolo) and Keith Carrick (percussion)
Utah University, Utah, U.S.
27 September 2020
Paco Varoch (piccolo) and the Kinetic Percussion duo: Adrián García and Rafa Mayans
Auditorio Diputación de Alicante, Paseo Campoamoralicante, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain
Reviews:
“Finalmente hay que mencionar la exquisita mixtura tímbrica alcanzada entre el pícolo y el glockenspiel en Gelsomina del británico Simon Holt, inspirada en un personaje del film La Strada de Fellini, cuya corta duración realza la condensada excelencia de su contenido, convirtiéndose así en un esencial paradigma de este concierto, verdadero broche de oro del Festival.”
José Antonio Cantón, El Mundo, 30 September 2020