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The roses of Heliogabalus

for 2 pianists & 2 percussionists

Michele Foresi

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Specifications

Region

Europe

Estimated Duration

6 - 10min

Date

2021

ISMN : 979-0-2325-6194-3

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Notes on this piece

Heliogabalus (203-222 AD) was one of the most controversial emperors in history. It was said of him that he was a heretic, a prostitute, a transgender, a pervert, a monotheist, a deviant.

He was assassinated when he was 19 years old, and on him fell the damnatio memoriae, the condemnation to oblivion and disgrace.

However, some historians of the time have handed down some of the most

obscene and perverse anecdotes about his short reign.

Infamous (and probably invented only to discredit his name even more) is the event of the roses of Heliogabalus, depicted by Lawrence Alma-Tadema in his homonymous painting.

According to the Historia Augusta:

Oppressit in tricliniis versatilibus parasitos suos violis et floribus, sic ut animam aliqui efflaverint, cum erepere ad summum non possent.

"In a banqueting-room with a reversible ceiling he once buried his guests in violets and other flowers, so that some were actually smothered to death, being unable to crawl out to the top."

In the painting we can see a group of people who are about to be drowned by a flood of petals, while in the background Heliogabalus enjoys the scene and the conversation with his other guests.

Instrumentation

Percussions (2)|Piano (2)

Recording

Yarn/Wire Ensemble
Laura Barger and Julia Den Boer — pianos
Russell Greenberg and Sae Hashimoto — percussions

New York City (USA)
20/06/21

Score Details

Format - Undefined
Pages - 28

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