Music of the rivers

The song of the Vltava
1997 bronze 130cm x 70cm x 50cm

Fountain of the Rivers:

Nile
2000, bronze 174cn
Ganges
1997, bronze 225cm
Danube
1997, bronze 225cm
Amazon
1997, bronze 170cm
Mississippi
1997, bronze 205cm

Guadalquivir – Carmen
1998, bronze 190cm

In Ancient times people considered rivers to be charitable Gods of the regions they crossed. They were thought to be sons of Oceanus and Tethys. The violence, the noise, the fertility of their waters led people to picture them as living creatures. First of all they were imagined as bulls, then in human or other animal form. The idea of expanding the mythical subject of rivers into a musical motif originated in Anna Chromy’s early memories of Prague. How could she not associate the image of the Vltava River with the tune which immortalised it? With time this idea was enriched by other decisive motifs such as her boundless love of the baroque magic of Bernini’s fountain, the grandeur of water and everything that flows from it as a primordial element and the desire to transform it into an effective symbolic, artistic allegory. But the most recurrent theme is the insistent reflection on the fate of life on our planet at a time when it is being threatened by a model of civilisation that refuses any kind of spiritual perspective.

So the big rivers are seen by Anna Chromy as terrestrial musical instruments. It is these instruments which sing the eternal life-cycle and dance to the rhythm of the heart which beats out the seasons. Before they empty into the sea and disappear they cross time and space, nature and history without ever stopping their music. Anna Chromy presents rivers to us like that, in the guise of musicians come dancers, whilst they perform for us the symphony called existence. Together they form a marvellous sight, 5 life size figures that could also become part of a new architectural, plan for a fountain. Each of the figures appears with their faces covered, like the greenish stretch of water that trickles away or the whirlpool of the current which whirls around forever. What can really be sensed though, are the sounds of their souls, which coincide with the spirit and musical culture of the continents they cross.

Beneath the harmonious circle are alternating male and female figures. Two couples to represent the four corners of the world. There is the sacred dance of the Ganges embodied by the figure of the mandolin player. Without a doubt it is his grace which purifies our numerous, unknown existences. The echo of the Amazon with all its greenery can be seen through the figure of the Indian flute, an instrument that has experienced the marvels of the forest. The Danube is also represented by a woman, a violin player: the violin, a crossroads of romantic tunes and nostalgic gypsy music. The jazz musician represents the Mississippi as he holds his trumpet up firmly. When its call to prayer resounds the chains of spiritual slavery are broken and even the very old Nile standing up high on the central stand wakes from beyond the grave. He is unravelling the remaining bandages that he had been wrapped in and his mummified body is rediscovering the dancing radiance of life which is being resurrected. And then finally there is the gypsy soul of the Guadalquivir, here represented in the guise of Carmen who while dancing masks and expresses all her powers of seduction.