matrix matrī

τετρακτύς της μήτρας

For those etymologically inclined, it’s worth noting that a miscellany of words like mother, matter, madrigal and matrical (the adjectival form of matrix) all spring from the same maternal root: *mater. I mention this foray into linguistic archaeology only because of the light it sheds on the poetic substrate of language, the ways in which the ghosts of forgotten meanings shapeshift into seemingly isolated modern concepts, all connected by the thin thread of metaphor. Ordinary language, with apologies to Nietzsche, is nothing but a mobile army of metaphors and metonyms that become literal by overuse, like coins that lose their embossing and come to be seen only as metal, no longer as coins. Meaning is born of metaphor, of the human power to transmute experience into a matrix of symbols. From the associative logic of dream images to the imaginative babble of childhood make-believe, literal language begins in poetry.

Most likely, it also ends there. This past fall my mother passed away. In the last few days, her grip on the literal use of language progressively slipped and she lapsed frequently into a kind of Lautdichtung, where you could infer, for the most part, what she wanted to say by tracing back from a string of phonemes to near homophones. Toward the end, she summoned a spell of lucidity and asked me, “Does my tongue just shake or am I really talking?” When I commented on how poetic this sounded she replied, “Gee, no Shakespeare shaking me today, everyone is leaving because I’ve gone away.”

The lyrics and other vocal sounds in matrix matri (matrix for mother) are drawn from this passing moment. The piece also begins with, and frequently orbits around, a musical monogram on my mother’s name: A(nne) H-[d]O-D-G-E, producing an assembly of pitches identical to the medieval Hexachordum Durum (G,A,B,C,D,E / Γ: ut re mi fa sol la). The changeable appearances of this sonority (and its compliment: C#,D#,F,F#,G#,A#) traverse a maze spanning 1500 years through the domains of Boethius and Zarlino, Pythagorean and Just Intonations, and my own matrix of microtonal hexachordal detours. Winding this warp, the piece materializes a variety of madrigalisms (word-painting) and matricalisms (grids, rhythmic and otherwise), while exploring the sonic substrate of language and meaning.

Anne Hodge in memoriam

Ekmeles performs matrix matrī (2025)