Deus ex Machina (Daugherty)

Deus ex Machina is a piano concerto by the American composer Michael Daugherty. The 33-minute work was jointly commissioned by the Charlotte, Nashville, New Jersey, Rochester and Syracuse Symphony Orchestras. It won the 2011 Grammy for Best Classical Contemporary Composition for a recording by soloist Terrance Wilson and the Nashville Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Giancarlo Guerrero.

Deus ex Machina was recorded and released on Naxos along with a work from earlier in Michael Daugherty's career, the Metropolis Symphony. The album was nominated for a total of 5 Grammys. In addition to Best Classical Contemporary Composition, it won in the categories of Best Orchestral Performance and Best Engineered Album, Classical.

Program note

The title refers to the Latin phrase, "god from the machine." Each of the three movements of the piano concerto is a musical response by the composer to the world of trains.

Movements

Deus ex machina

Deus ex machina (Latin: [ˈdeʊs ɛks ˈmaː.kʰɪ.naː]: /ˈdeɪ.əs ɛks ˈmɑːkiːnə/ or /ˈdiːəs ɛks ˈmækᵻnə/; plural: dei ex machina) is a Latin calque from Greek ἀπὸ μηχανῆς θεός (apò mēkhanês theós), meaning "god from the machine". The term has evolved to mean a plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem is suddenly and abruptly resolved by the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability or object. Depending on how it is done, it can be intended to move the story forward when the writer has "painted himself into a corner" and sees no other way out, to surprise the audience, to bring the tale to a happy ending, or as a comedic device.

Origin of the expression

The term was coined from the conventions of Greek tragedy, where a machine is used to bring actors playing gods onto the stage. The machine could be either a crane (mechane) used to lower actors from above or a riser that brought actors up through a trapdoor. Preparation to pick up the actors was done behind the skene. The idea was introduced by Aeschylus and was used often to resolve the conflict and conclude the drama. Although the device is associated mostly with Greek tragedy, it also appeared in comedies.

Deus ex machina (disambiguation)

Deus ex machina is a Latin term literally meaning "god from the machine", and is used to indicate a person or event which provides a sudden, unexpected solution to a story.

Deus ex machina may also refer to:

Music

Deus Ex Machina (punk band)

Deus Ex Machina is a popular Greek hardcore punk band from Athens formed in 1989 by Dimitris Spyropoulos and Dimitris Manthos, with Spyropoulos and Yiannis Venardis (the group's drummer) having already been early Greek Punk scene's 'veterans' (they were members of Adiexodo).

The band's lyrics are often political having references to subjects such as the War on Iraq and the Mexican Zapatista Army of National Liberation movement.

Discography (selected)

Band members