Chamber music Compositions by Gabriele Proy (Austria)

Inachis io

Duo for Flute and Piano (2012)

“The peacock butterfly, Inachis io, is common throughout Europe and in temperate regions of Asia and Japan. The large, distinctive colourful eyespots on its fore and hind wings serve to confuse and warn predators and make this one of the most easily recognisable species.

A butterfly - what associations of extraordinary beauty and adornment, of freedom and paradise are conjured up by this beautiful insect. Butterflies are often seen as a beacon of hope for an intact environment, for a peaceful landscape. Yet, in the American anti-war film ‘All Quiet on the Western Front' the young German soldier’s joy at the sight of a butterfly is his downfall: as he stretches out his hand to touch it, he is shot dead by a bullet from the enemy trenches.

The piece ‘Inachis io’ tells of the different emotions we feel when we catch sight of a butterfly - of magnificent, fascinating colours and the joy of flight, of irony and mimicry, of the hope of a new beginning and of survival through metamorphoses.”

Gabriele Proy wrote the composition “Inachis io” in response to an invitation by the flautist Ulrike Anton and received the Composition Prize 2012 of the City of Vienna for the work.

The piece had its world premiere on 22 January 2015 at the portrait concert dedicated to Gabriele Proy at the Konzerthaus Berlin. It was performed to great acclaim by Ulrike Anton and Russell Ryan, to whom it is dedicated.

This successful world premiere at the portrait concert of Gabriele Proy was presented by Dr. Wilhelm Matejka, the former programme director of RBB Kulturradio.


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