Akhkhazu

Notes

Akhkhazu is a female demon present in Mesopotamian mythology. It was especially evil and, therefore, very feared. It was also known as “the one that captures”. It fed on nursing infants, which were abducted and devoured while their mothers slept. The work is structured in a single movement. It begins with a slow introduction in a tense and mysterious atmosphere, employing multiphonics on the saxophone and harmonic cascades on the piano. This introduction is followed by a rhythmic, angled, very agitated discourse, with frequent metric changes, linked seamlessly by employing “rhythmic modulations”. These rhythmic episodes are interspersed with moments of tense and anguished waiting. Both motivic and rhythmic material, as well as the formal structure, are derived from mathematical processes which, although transparent to listener, give unity and continuity to the work.