Ko: A Night of Flight by Noises
Expected to ship in 2-3 weeks.
Shipping Policy- Composer: Tonia Ko (1988-)
- Format: Full Score
- Instrumentation: Electronics, Toy Piano
- Work: A Night of Flight by Noises (2024) (4 toy pianos)
Description
Lili‘uokalani was placed under house arrest at ‘Iolani Palace following the 1 895 coup which overthrew the Hawaiian Kingdom and ended her reign. During imprisonment, she worked on both the translation of the Hawaiian creation myth, the Kumulipo, and composed several musical works, including the beloved "Ku‘u Pua I Paoakalani." A Night of Flight by Noises aims to bring these two historically important works together. It also celebrates Lili‘uokalani's strength of character, both defiantly preserving her heritage in the Kumulipo while wistful for her garden in Paoaklani and certainly, for better times.
In my setting for four toy pianos and electronics, "Ku‘u Pua I Paoakalani" is filtered through the initial environment described by the Kumulipo chant: from the "depth of darkness" in the night came tiny creatures of the ocean, from coral polyps to sea worms to starfish and various types of seaweed, which all brought forth their own evolutionary offspring. This proliferation continues across sixteen eras, the last of which narrates the genealogy of Hawaiian chiefs until Lili‘uokalani's own ancestors from the 17th century. Just as the Kumulipo moves from darkness to light, my work also gradually opens into a state of exuberance.
All sea plants in the Kumulipo are paired with another which live on land, and while there have been studies about their scientific links, the connections are also highly spiritual. This idea is represented by one pair of toy pianos generally playing at the lower octave, and another pair at the high octave. More subtle connections can be heard in the tonal links and clashes as each performer makes their way through an ever accelerating space. "Ku‘u Pua I Paoakalani" receives a final unveiling in the electronics track at the end of the piece, bridging broken arppegios in the toy pianos to languid strums of the ukulele.
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Ko: A Night of Flight by Noises
