Nixus

by Cecilia Damström

for symphony orchestra or sinfonietta

Description

Mental disorders, also called mental illnesses, affect people in very different ways, sometimes for a short period of time and for others it is a struggle throughout their life. Altogether 970 million people around the world suffer from mental disorders, according to the World Health Organization. The most common mental disorders are depression and anxiety, which annually affect 264 million and 284 million people respectively around the world. Mental illness is nothing you can imagine before you have experienced it yourself, and even then the experience is personal, and every experience is unique and equally significant.

The piece Nixus was finished on the 10th of September (at 4 a.m.), which also happens to be “world suicide prevention day”. This coincidence feels very symbolic. Every year around 800.000 people commit suicide and the connection between mental illness and suicide is demonstrable. Despite the fact that 13% of the world population suffers from mental illness, and one out of four people are affected at some point of their life by mental or neurological disorders, it is still taboo to talk about it, and probably in part therefore many people feel very lonely with their problems.

The Latin word “nixus” can translate as effort, pressure or strain. Nixus is dedicated to anyone who suffers from mental illness in any form. In this work, I try to illustrate how thoughts jump back and forth at a rapid pace, and often form a kind of hamster wheel, a vicious circle from which it is difficult to break out. I try to describe how the thoughts often lead to very gloomy moods and anxiety, which can even become physical manifestations in the body, like palpitations and pressure in the chest.

- Cecilia Damström

Instrumentation

4444 4431 13 0, pno+cel, str or 2222 2201 01, pno+cel, str

Category

Works for Orchestra or Large Ensemble

Opus no.

op. 75

Premiere

Joensuu City Orchestra, Eero Lehtimäki, cond. February 26, 2021, Joensuu, Finland

Commisioned by / dedications

Commissioned by Big Music for Small Cities. Dedicated to Anyone who suffers from mental illness in any form.

More

• Listen to Nixus on SoundCloud

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