Product Description
Commissioned by the International School Of Luxembourg (ISL). Premiered in Luxembourg, in December 2010, conducted by Dimosthenis Dimitrakoulakos.
Program Notes:
This piece is named for Yemanya (pronounced Yeh-MAHN-jah or Yeh-MAHN-jee), the Brazilian/African nurturing mother goddess of the ocean. She's known as a protector, supplier, and one who grants wishes. Every December 31st, Brazilians celebrate Yemanya by casting white flowers and miniature boats into the sea. If Yemanya grants your wish, her waves will swallow the boat and if she denies the wish the boat will wash up on shore. Yemanya teaches us to dive in at the very moment of golden opportunity, to enjoy the rhythms of life, and to allow all doubts to be washed away.
The fluid, oceanic themes of the instruments represent the flow of the water and magic of Yemanya. The piece starts off with a soft wind chime accompanied by gong/tam-tam. Then the vibraphone enters mysteriously as the main theme that drives the whole piece as it subtly changes. The double bass creates a rhythmic pulse beneath the other sections. The gentle melodies in the flute dance around jazzy articulations in the trumpets and saxophones. There's an interplay of Afro-Cuban beats in the marimba and a bossa nova rhythm between the temple blocks and xylophone.
Throughout the piece I have tried to capture the water's motion and the ever-changing face of the sea. As the vibraphone returns to the original melody, we are reminded of Yemanya's eternal beauty and peaceful nature.
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