Program Notes
Nadiya (p) means ‘rivers’ in Hindi. In this work, I imagine two different streams intersecting — pushing and pulling against one another, tripping over each other, flowing into each other to create mellifluous, cascading melodies. The piece is in a composite of two Hindustani raags: Jog and Vachaspati — both have a light and a dark side, and they intermingle to create a luminous surface texture that twists and turns as it finds new points of resonance.
Performance Notes
In my experience, Hindustani melody has a much more horizontal feel about it than Western melody does. Hindustani musicians are almost always playing off an explicit percussion instrument, so their job is not to purvey the beat, but rather to provide a counterpoint to it. In this case, the two instruments play off one another. The phrases should feel like they interrupt one another, and that they overlap and intersect with the intuition of a deeply engaged conversation, rather than aligning specifically as they are written.
Alignment usually only happens directly following a barline. In all other cases, simply start each phrase generally where it appears in relation to the other instrument, and then depart from alignment until the beginning of the next phrase. The forward motion of the piece is created by aligning with your partner only at the beginning of phrases, and then shifting focus to your own phrase as soon as you enter. For example, for most of page three, between the two barlines, you should not align — use the boxes on line 3 to realign if necessary.
This piece requires a great deal of trust. It’s about how far you can push and pull the phrases with your partner. Often, different interpretations vary in length by 2-3 minutes — as they should. The piece is designed to be flexible and malleable as you explore a relationship that is constantly in flux.
Recording
performed by Dyad: Niv Ashkenazi, violin; Leah Kohn, bassoon
Premiere/Performances
This piece was commissioned by Benjamin Larsen and Martha Cargo for their Pieces of Eight Project, and was generously underwritten by Henry Cox and Michael Kunkel. It was premiered on April 21, 2017 in Newport, RI.
This version for violin/bassoon was premiered by Dyad (Niv Ashkenazi, violin and Leah Kohn, bassoon) on November 11th, 2017, in Encino CA.
