Botti: EchoTempo
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- Composer: Susan Botti (1962-)
- Format: Full Score
- Instrumentation: Soprano, Orchestra, Percussion
- Work: EchoTempo (2001)
- Binding: Spiral Bound
- Work Language: English
- Size: 11.0 x 16.9 inches
Description
EchoTempo is a setting of Native American translations for soprano, percussion & orchestra.
The first aspect of this unusual combination of soloists that struck me was the concept of voice and drums as the "original" instruments. I felt that the text that I chose needed to reflect a timelessness. The simple elegance and power of these Native American texts not only fulfilled that quality but also offered me a wonderful doorway into the spirit of these inspiring cultures. Their connection to and reverence for nature and the human experience resonate through the translations (which are themselves beautiful works of English). My musical settings do not incorporate the original songs or dances with which they were conceived. Rather, I looked to the sources of the original music for my inspiration as well – rhythms and sounds from the natural world around us – animal movements and sounds, elemental & emotion-based sounds interpreted through my musical language.
The four texts are set in a continuous cycle (performed without pause):
Song 1 ("Spring is Opening") - a celebration of the cacophony and renewal of spring
Song 2 ("Neither Spirit not Bird") - a love song
Song 3 ("War God's Horse Song II") - from the fantastic & beautiful Navajo mythology. "War God" (also known as "Enemy Slayer") is one of twin sons born to Changing Woman (the principal Navajo deity whose name comes from the cycle of changes in her age: young in the spring, mature in the late summer, old in winter, and young again the following spring) and the Sun. These warrior twins were sent to the world by the deities to rid the world of monsters who were born of the quarreling people of the earth, and who were ravaging the land. The twins were sent to restore harmony to the world.
Song 4 ("In the Great Night") - also known as "Owl Woman's Death Song"
Each song represents a season, joined in an endless cycle, renewed again each spring.
When I was compiling the texts that I would set, I hoped to find expressions of human experience common across time, across cultures. The delight in the senses of spring, the passion of love, and the transcendence of death, were evident choices. Sadly, so was the choice of a text that portrays the senseless repetition of human conflict. As disturbing an issue as this was when I began EchoTempo, it became even more resonant as we prepared to premiere the work in NYC in the autumn of 2001.
My orginal co-soloist for EchoTempo was the extraordinary percussionist, Christopher Lamb. I am forever grateful to him for his creative collaboration in realizing this work.
-Susan Botti
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Botti: EchoTempo
