Stacy Garrop: Invictus
Cedille Records
The word invictus was with us long before Prince Harry founded his Invictus Games in 2014. As noted by Chicago-based composer Stacy Garrop (b. 1969), during his long prison stay Nelson Mandela regularly recited the same-titled poem, which William Ernest Henley wrote in the hospital after surgery saved his right leg, his left having been amputated years earlier due to tubercular bone disease. While the Latin word stands for unconquered, it's also associated with determination, perseverance, resolve, and resilience.
Why exactly Garrop chose Henley's sixteen-line poem as the inspiration for her piano concerto Invictus isn't entirely clear, though the choice does dovetail with other works the award-winning composer's produced that root themselves in storytelling. Among the material she's created for orchestra, opera, choir, art song, and chamber ensembles are the evocatively titled Forging Steel, My Dearest Ruth, The Battle for the Ballot, Glorious Mahalia, The Transformation of Jane Doe, Berko's Journey, and others. Garrop taught full-time at Roosevelt University from 2000 to 2016 before leaving to launch her freelance career and has enjoyed a long and fruitful association with Cedille Records.
Invictus was composed for the Chicago-based pianist Marta Aznavoorian, who delivers a powerful rendering of the work with the esteemed Chicago Philharmonic and its Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Scott Speck. Structured in four movements and an interlude, the thirty-two-minute piece brings Henley's poem vividly to life by using each line in its opening verse as the impetus for a movement. What makes Garrop's treatment particularly fascinating is how seamlessly its character accords with the invictus concept. Whereas many a traditional piano concerto hews to a long-established formal design bereft of extra-musical content, hers musically mirrors the upward trajectory of a protagonist determinedly intent on overcoming conflict and ultimately triumphing. Not only does the music repeatedly surge upwards, it also treats the piano and orchestra as combative forces engaged in struggle. Rounding out the release is the solo piano work Joie de vivre, which further amplifies the celebratory tone that Invictus achieves upon completion.
Aa Invictus progresses, episodes of lyrical reflection give way to moments of bitter combat and eventually triumph. In Garrop's description, the opening movement, “Out of the night that covers me,” places the soloist at the base of a pit, represented by the orchestra. After low-register notes identify the pianist's position, Aznavoorian's attempts to ascend are thwarted by the orchestra, which demands the soloist locate a newfound reserve of strength to undertake the climb again. Gentle piano reflections emerge alongside silken string textures and shimmering harp and percussion gestures, as the ever-hopeful soloist visualizes a successful climb. As intimated by an explosive passage, the second attempt is frustrated too, and even worse the subsequent movement, “Black as the pit from pole to pole,” sees the soloist violently battered back and forth at the pit's bottom by its antagonist. Timpani-led bluster by the orchestra threatens to overpower the pianist, but a defiant Aznavoorian not only holds her own against its hammer blows but attempts once again to move upwards. Following as it does two aggressive movements, the relative tranquility of “I thank whatever gods may be” isn't unwelcome; consistent with the conceptual dimension of the piece, one imagines the soloist looking skyward and praying desperately for deliverance. A lyrical “Interlude” initiates another climb, after which "For my unconquerable soul” sees the soloist ascending successfully and escaping out of the pit's opening.
Following the titular work's triumphant resolution is Joie de vivre, ostensibly a sparkling musical portrait by Garrop of her life-embracing friend Joanne Bernstein. Opening peacefully, the eight-minute piece gradually blossoms into lyrical affirmations, be it calm introspection or exuberant dancing. As it advances from one reverential passage to another, it begins to suggest a life well-lived and in the best spirit of celebration.
With Garrop's programmatic design in place, Invictus is never less than engrossing, and while Joie de vivre is less driven by aggressive energy it's gripping in its own way. Aznavoorian, who's a founding member of Lincoln Trio and who with her sister, cellist Ani Aznavoorian, performs as Aznavoorian Duo, is stellar in both contexts, so much so it's hard to imagine another pianist bettering her performances. As critical to the impact of Invictus is the Chicago Philharmonic when it acts as her adversary, and under Peck's able direction the orchestra executes its role excellently. That the release weighs in it a compact forty minutes certainly adds to its appeal too.August 2026