Nyx (composition)

Nyx is a symphonic poem by the Finnish composer Esa-Pekka Salonen. The work was jointly commissioned by Radio France, the Barbican Centre, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, and the Finnish Broadcasting Company. It was premiered February 19, 2011 in the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris, with Salonen conducting the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. The piece is titled after the Goddess Nyx from Greek mythology.

Composition

Nyx is composed in one continuous movement and has a duration of roughly 17 minutes.

Background

The piece marked Salonen's first purely orchestral composition since his 2005 composition Helix. He commented on the composition of Nyx in the score program notes, writing:

He continued:

Title

The piece is titled after the Goddess Nyx from Greek mythology. Salonen wrote of this inspiration:

He further remarked:

I'm not trying to describe this mythical goddess in any precise way musically. However, the almost constant flickering and rapid changing of textures and moods as well as a certain elusive character of many musical gestures may well be related to the subject.

Nyx

Nyx (English /ˈnɪks/;Ancient Greek: Νύξ, "Night";Latin: Nox) is the Greek goddess (or personification) of the night. A shadowy figure, Nyx stood at or near the beginning of creation, and mothered other personified deities such as Hypnos (Sleep) and Thanatos (Death), with Erebus (Darkness). Her appearances are sparse in surviving mythology, but reveal her as a figure of such exceptional power and beauty, that she is feared by Zeus himself.

Mythology and literature

Hesiod

In Hesiod's Theogony, Nyx is born of Chaos. With Erebus (Darkness), Nyx gives birth to Aether (Brightness) and Hemera (Day). Later, on her own, Nyx gives birth to Moros (Doom, Destiny), Ker (Destruction, Death), Thanatos (Death), Hypnos (Sleep), the Oneiroi (Dreams), Momus (Blame), Oizys (Pain, Distress), the Hesperides, the Moirai (Fates), the Keres, Nemesis (Indignation, Retribution), Apate (Deceit), Philotes (Friendship), Geras (Old Age), and Eris (Strife).

In his description of Tartarus, Hesiod locates there the home of Nyx, and the homes of her children Hypnos and Thanatos. Hesiod says further that Nyx's daughter Hemera (Day) left Tartarus just as Nyx (Night) entered it; continuing cyclicly, when Hemera returned, Nyx left. This mirrors the portrayal of Ratri (night) in the Rigveda, where she works in close cooperation but also tension with her sister Ushas (dawn).

Nyx (Image Comics)

Nyx is a comic book character created by Brian Holguin who appears in the Spawn comic book series as an ally of Al Simmons (Spawn). She first appears in Spawn #122. She reappears in issue #169 and plays a major role in subsequent issues, mainly as Spawn's sidekick.

Fictional character biography

Carrie Ann began practicing magic by herself when she was four. She took her pseudonym from the Nyx, the Greek goddess of night.

During her first appearance, she helps Al Simmons recover his hellspawn suit, and the two become lovers. Wondering if her friend Thea is suffering in Hell, she asks Spawn to show her and suffers a seizure from the glimpse of Hell.

A Thousand Clowns

While Spawn faces Violator and loses, Nyx is tempted by Mammon, who finds her while looking for Spawn.

With the help of Mammon, she steals a part of Spawn's Necroplasmic energy, gaining Hellspawn powers and a Symbiote suit. While in hell, she allies with the Redeemer, who helps her in her journey. She finally finds her friend's soul and releases both the soul and the Redeemer, who faces Spawn when he tries to take his revenge against Nyx.

3908 Nyx

3908 Nyx is an Amor and Mars-crosser asteroid. It was discovered by Hans-Emil Schuster on August 6, 1980, and is named after Nyx, the Greek goddess of the night, after which Pluto's moon Nix is also named. It is 1–2 km in diameter and is a V-type asteroid, meaning that it may be a fragment of the asteroid 4 Vesta.

Observations

In 2000, radar observations conducted at the Arecibo and Goldstone observatories produced a model of Nyx's shape; the asteroid can best be described as spherical but with many protruding lumps.

Name

To avoid confusion with 3908 Nyx, Pluto's moon Nix was changed from the initial proposal of the classical spelling Nyx, to Nix.

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Composition

Composition or Compositions may refer to:

Arts

Computer science

Choreography (dance)

In dance, choreography is the act of designing dance. Choreography may also refer to the design itself, which is sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. A choreographer is one who designs dances. Dance choreography is sometimes called dance composition.

Aspects of dance choreography include the compositional use of organic unity, rhythmic or non-rhythmic articulation, theme and variation, and repetition. The choreograhic process may employ improvisation for the purpose of developing innovative movement ideas. In general, choreography is used to design dances that are intended to be performed as concert dance.

The art of choreography involves the specification of human movement and form in terms of space, shape, time and energy, typically within an emotional or non-literal context. Movement language is taken from the dance techniques of ballet, contemporary dance, jazz dance, hip hop dance, folk dance, techno, k pop, religious dance, pedestrian movement, or combinations of these.

Composition (fine)

Compounding is a legal procedure whereby a criminal or delinquent avoids prosecution in a court of law, potentially leading to the confiscation of his estate or some other punishment, in exchange for his payment to the authorities of a financial penalty or fine. The agreement so reached is termed a composition. The term is from the Latin verb pono, ponere, posui, positum, "to place", + com, "with/together". In general legal terminology a "composition" is "an agreement not to prosecute in return for a consideration". It was commonly used by the victorious Parliamentarians against the Royalists after the English Civil War, for which purpose the Committee for Compounding with Delinquents was established in 1643. Also in Early Germanic law and in the modern period, see Ausgleich, also called the Composition of 1867).

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