Martín Francisco Mayo | Wheatfield with crows | 2020 | 5'
Trio percussion, piano & cello
"When I was first approached by Konstantyn Napolov to write “Wheatfield with Crows”, I had a peculiar relationship with van Gogh. Though I could appreciate his opus as unique, revolutionary, beautiful, I had never connected with it in the way so many others have. Nevertheless, I resolved to approach this project not as a begrudging tribute to an artistic celebrity, but as an opportunity to connect with a man who touched so many lives with his craft.
I took a trip to the van Gogh museum in Amsterdam, and for most of it, unfortunately, I remained unmoved. Not for lack of curiosity, nor for failure to appreciate the beauty of the man’s art. But I could tell something was missing within me; something still refused to click.
That all changed as I walked down a corridor and saw his “Wheatfield with Crows”. Upon seeing it, I was overwhelmed. I stood there for what felt like hours, trying to wrap my head around what van Gogh had done. I couldn’t believe how van Gogh managed to capture in a painting a subject that is nowhere to be seen. “Wheatfield with Crows” is a painting of a storm before it arrives, of the last breaths a person draws before passing away. And so, as I walked through that museum feeling like something was missing, I found a painting that felt the same way.
In my piece, aptly named “Wheatfield with Crows”, I seek to capture that feeling of bated breath, of palpable suspense, of unsteady advent. Using references to the Venezuelan pajarillo, a folk style whose name means “little bird,” the piece builds to a climax that is on the horizon, but never truly arrives."
- Martín Francisco Mayo