Meshes of the Afternoon (2018)

for violin, flute, clarinet, trumpet, vibraphone, and percussion (2)

Score to accompany Maya Deren’s 1943 film ‘Meshes of the Afternoon.’

Premiered by St. Olaf musicians, April 5, 2019

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program note:

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This piece was the Capstone project for my B.M. Elective Studies major, uniting music composition and film studies. I decided to score this silent film by Maya Deren, which is one of the most influential experimental films in American cinema. According to the Museum of Modern Art, Deren’s film “has been identified as a key example of the ‘trance film,’ in which a protagonist appears in a dreamlike state, and where the camera conveys his or her subjective focus.” The central figure is caught in a cycle of repeating events that float between dreams and reality. There are repeating visual motifs such as a key, a knife, and a veiled figure, and the events flow in non-logical ways. Deren explained that she wanted "to put on film the feeling which a human being experiences about an incident, rather than to record the incident accurately." 

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The film utilizes repetition of motifs and a repeating sequence of events. I used this as the basis on which to structure the form of my piece, writing a few different thematic ideas, and then matching them to specific repeating images in the film. The frantic theme tied to the veiled figure in the film is asymmetrical and repetitive, returning many times throughout the piece. It builds on itself with each repetition, making us more familiar with the feeling of discomfort conveyed in the film. I used a lot of asymmetrical meters in this piece, in addition to sharp or angular harmonies to reflect the film’s anxiety and the uncertainty of the non-narrative form. 

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Contact Erika for score inquiries. 

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