Located in the UK
Located in the USA
Located in Europe
- Augusta Read Thomas
Resounding Earth (2012)
- G Schirmer Inc (World)
Programme Note
#1: INVOCATION — PULSE RADIANCE
(Homage to Olivier Messiaen and Igor Stravinsky)
#2: PRAYER — STAR DUST ORBITS
(Homage to Luciano Berio and Pierre Boulez)
#3: MANTRA — CEREMONIAL TIME SHAPES
(Homage to Lou Harrison and György Ligeti)
#4: REVERIE — CRYSTAL LATTICE
(Homage to Edgard Varèse, Harry Partch and John Cage)
Everything that we are made of, everything that we know and love, is made from the stars.
We (like all metals) are stardust. Metals are exceptionally resonant sound sources, rich with vibrational possibilities. As such, artisans across time and earth have been inspired to sculpt metals into musical instruments. More than five hundred pieces of metal are incorporated into the instrumentation of Resounding (re-sounding) Earth.
Resounding Earth can be heard and imagined as a United-Nations-of-Resonances.
Scored for four percussionists playing bells from a wide variety of cultures and historical periods, the project is conceived as a cultural statement celebrating interdependence and commonality across all cultures; and as a musical statement celebrating the extraordinary beauty and diversity of expression inherent in bell sounds.
Probing into bells' rich meanings and characteristics as carriers of history, ethnicity, societal and cultural connotations is a joy and wonder. Bells can be used to celebrate grand occasions, hold sacrificial rites, keep a record of events, give the correct time, celebrate births and weddings, mark funerals, caution a community, enhance any number of religious ceremonies, and are even hung around the necks of animals. As carriers of history and culture, bells, of numerous shapes, sizes, types, decorative patterns, weights, functions, and cultural connotations, enrapture and inspire.
Bells are central to Augusta's music; bells permeate her music. For over 25 years, in every work for orchestra, and in many for smaller ensembles, she has been composing music frequently using percussion consisting of bell sounds (pitched metal percussion and all the mallet percussion instruments) many of which have their origins in other than Western musical cultures. As such, her new piece is an extreme extension of work she has been doing for decades.
Augusta said:
"I treasure the opportunity to collaborate with the musicians in Third Coast Percussion because they are world-class virtuosi, visionary artists, and collegial, spectacular teammates. Involving a large battery of unique, ancient bells from around the world, our composition thus requires countless hours of refining nuances, colors, mallet choices, bell placements, and honing any number of other shadings, tunings, and gradations of the sound complexes. The musicians in Third Coast Percussion are ardent collaborators."
Resounding Earth is dedicated with admiration and gratitude to Third Coast Percussion. http://www.thirdcoastpercussion.com
— Augusta Read Thomas
See AugustaReadThomas.com for further information about Resounding Earth.
(Homage to Olivier Messiaen and Igor Stravinsky)
#2: PRAYER — STAR DUST ORBITS
(Homage to Luciano Berio and Pierre Boulez)
#3: MANTRA — CEREMONIAL TIME SHAPES
(Homage to Lou Harrison and György Ligeti)
#4: REVERIE — CRYSTAL LATTICE
(Homage to Edgard Varèse, Harry Partch and John Cage)
Everything that we are made of, everything that we know and love, is made from the stars.
We (like all metals) are stardust. Metals are exceptionally resonant sound sources, rich with vibrational possibilities. As such, artisans across time and earth have been inspired to sculpt metals into musical instruments. More than five hundred pieces of metal are incorporated into the instrumentation of Resounding (re-sounding) Earth.
Resounding Earth can be heard and imagined as a United-Nations-of-Resonances.
Scored for four percussionists playing bells from a wide variety of cultures and historical periods, the project is conceived as a cultural statement celebrating interdependence and commonality across all cultures; and as a musical statement celebrating the extraordinary beauty and diversity of expression inherent in bell sounds.
Probing into bells' rich meanings and characteristics as carriers of history, ethnicity, societal and cultural connotations is a joy and wonder. Bells can be used to celebrate grand occasions, hold sacrificial rites, keep a record of events, give the correct time, celebrate births and weddings, mark funerals, caution a community, enhance any number of religious ceremonies, and are even hung around the necks of animals. As carriers of history and culture, bells, of numerous shapes, sizes, types, decorative patterns, weights, functions, and cultural connotations, enrapture and inspire.
Bells are central to Augusta's music; bells permeate her music. For over 25 years, in every work for orchestra, and in many for smaller ensembles, she has been composing music frequently using percussion consisting of bell sounds (pitched metal percussion and all the mallet percussion instruments) many of which have their origins in other than Western musical cultures. As such, her new piece is an extreme extension of work she has been doing for decades.
Augusta said:
"I treasure the opportunity to collaborate with the musicians in Third Coast Percussion because they are world-class virtuosi, visionary artists, and collegial, spectacular teammates. Involving a large battery of unique, ancient bells from around the world, our composition thus requires countless hours of refining nuances, colors, mallet choices, bell placements, and honing any number of other shadings, tunings, and gradations of the sound complexes. The musicians in Third Coast Percussion are ardent collaborators."
Resounding Earth is dedicated with admiration and gratitude to Third Coast Percussion. http://www.thirdcoastpercussion.com
— Augusta Read Thomas
See AugustaReadThomas.com for further information about Resounding Earth.
