El Greco: The Agony in the Garden (music by Margarita Zelenaia)

'In The Agony in the Garden' (live from the world premiere at Derby Chamber Music Society, Derby, UK), a poem for viola and piano, based on El Greco's painting I was eager to discover many exciting ways of exploring the beauty of this particular instrumental combination. This work about tragic loneliness continued my interest in the spiritual realm, and I believe this is the next chapter in my quest to translate spiritual work to various mediums to music. (Among my most recent work is the Sacred Concerto for a Solo Cello entitled the "Byzantine Chants"). It was purely revealing to witness the most crucial, most spiritual, really climactic moment in Christ's life that El Greco portrays in his painting. Following it, I was trying to express a conflict between the two sides of Jesus: a human being who is afraid to suffer and die and wishes to avoid it, and a God who has the strength to face his fate.

I was attracted by El Greco's vision of Christ as an ecstatic person with a restless soul and a great spirit. My goal was to take the very core of the
artist's message and expose its power, its virtuosity, by revealing its myriad facets and amplifying it similarly to how ripples amplify the stone thrown in the water. I felt that this painting is composed of mystic, mysterious layers with such tangible vibration!

I am a big admirer of El Greco's paintings: it is breathtaking to see how this genius artist expressed himself. After taking in a lot of his works, I came up with an idea to write a poem that has strong dramaturgy with a few leit-motifs and their various developments.
Performers: Eniko Magyar, viola & Timothy End, piano.
Margarta Zelenaia, composer http://www.margaritazelenaia.com mzelenaia@nj.rr.com
Eniko Magyar, viola http://www.enikomagyar.com/
Timothy End, piano http://www.pianoaccompanists.com/profile-timothy-end
http://www.derbychambermusic.org
http://www.spanisharts.com/prado/greco.htm

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