Her Arranged Marriage to the Oranges (2022)
from the composer
Power, gender, money, politics…While the origins of Botticelli’s Primavera aren’t fully agreed upon, one story tells that a woman married into the infamous Medici family as part of an arranged marriage, and Primavera was a wedding gift. The men of the Medici family take up a lot of space in history books, but this bride, Semiramide Appiano, is merely glanced at in mentions of the original Primavera painting. The allegories of fertility, spring and marriage are where I turned to when I looked at this piece – and at Charline von Heyl’s intriguing reinterpretation. (Note – the Medici’s family crest included oranges, and oranges and orange trees feature heavily in Botticelli’s painted tableau and in von Heyl’s Primavera 2020).
Marriage is a challenge at any point in history. I’ve experienced marriage as a woman in the 21st Century; I’ve had my own choices and agency in my marriage. What was Semiramide’s story? What kind of life did she lead? And what kinds of expectations were on her (and any woman from most of Western history)? We can guess from Primavera’s saturated symbolism: chastity, beauty, fertility and sublime transformation – but only after the arranged wedding night. Matt Haimovitz’s Primavera Project and Charline von Heyl’s layered response gives us another way in to these images. My contribution “Her Arranged Marriage to the Oranges” has turned into a disjointed dance, a swirl of emotions and perspectives: a wedding march blurred by time and by those who write the history books.
bio
Carmen Braden is an emerging force in the world of new music, hailing proudly from Yellowknife NWT. As a performer, Carmen is “growing into the role of acoustic ambassador of the Canadian Subarctic” (Musicworks).
She has played intimate theatres and MainStage folk festivals. Her contemporary classical compositions are nationally recognized, with commissions and performances by world class ensembles and performers including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, James Ehnes and the Canadian Chamber Choir. She released her second album Songs of the Invisible Summer Stars in 2019, her first album Ravens in 2017. She won the Western Canadian Music Award for Classical Composer of the Year in 2020 and 2019, and has nominations for ECMA Classical Album of the Year (2020), WCMA Classical Artist of the Year (2019), and WCMA Classical Composition of the Year (2017). Carmen has been called “a talented, bold musician”. (Up Here Magazine). About her latest album: “Braden’s music is clear, and it is bright…this recording is captured psychogeography.” (Whole Note); and her songwriting: is “quirky and clever…à la Joni Mitchell” (The WholeNote). As an educator, Carmen regularly gives workshops, individual instruction, guest lectures and collaboration facilitation ranging from elementary level to university graduate level.