|
Description
|
The waves crash, the birds call as the pearl divers arrive on the beach in the early morning and chatter with each other as they prepare their boats to go out to sea. The first section of Pearls is based on Raga Lalita, the Indian raga of the dawn. The second section is slow and fragile, without a metered sense of rhythm, as the boats glide away from the shore. The asymetric 5/8 and 7/8 meters in the third section suggest the rowing rhythms.
The Ama free divers of Japan have traditionally dived without any breathing equipment. The women hold their breath underwater for incredible lengths of time. The next two sections are slow and delicate, with sounds evolving, without a metered sense of rhythm.
Free diving is a dangerous occupation, with the possibility of shark attacks, drowning or the fatal “bends” from returning too quickly to the surface. The last section is violent and demonic in dissonant and dense rhythms, and then abating, with the sighing of the performer’s breaths.
As I added the computer music, I thought of the people throughout Asia who have traditionally made their living free diving in the sea to collect pearls, and that became a programmatic inspiration for my choice of sounds to synthesize. You might hear some sea birds, humming fish, and even synthesized voices from the players, which sound, of course, as though they are underwater. This piece is dedicated to the Da Capo Chamber Players, who gave the premiere in Merkin Hall (New York) on the 1 st of June, 2009. Allan Kozinn reviewed the performance in The New York Times as follows:
"Lydia Ayers uses electronics more assertively in “Pearls” (2009), a work about Japanese pearl fishers who dive without oxygen or masks and brave shark attacks and the bends. As scenarios for electronic pieces go, that has plenty to offer, and Ms. Ayers responds with distorted voices, instruments and sea birds, filtered to sound as if they were being heard underwater. The score pivots between energetic cacophony and an attractive otherworldliness." (2009)
|
|
Notes
| Flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano and recorded soundscape (11:33 minutes) This piece is dedicated to the Da Capo Chamber Players, who gave the premiere in Merkin Hall (New York) on the 1st of June, 2009. |
