Choral
SKU:
BT.MUSM570367917
Composed by Thomas
Simaku. Classical. Vocal
Score. University of York
Music Press
#MUSM570367917. Published
by University of York
Music Press
(BT.MUSM570367917).
Thomas
Simaku's La
Leggiadra Luna
arranged for choir a
capella. The music begins
with a song-like
expression introduced at
a slow pace, as if
emerging from the
remoteness of time
itself. It is clearly
based on the musical
utterance of the 'white
modality', but these
modal segments are
constantly surrounded by
chromatic inflections
throughout the work. Each
section of the choir
pursues its own path, but
during a compositional
process of ‘zooming
in and out’, as it
were, their individual
qualities are
highlighted. It is as if
the initial sound object
- which to begin with was
far away- is brought
nearer to us, in time and
space. A variety of
shortsegments,
predominantly modal, but
stemming from different
chromatic
‘locations’,
are often superimposed.
The task of filtering out
this 'amourphous' texture
and giving its
constituent elements - be
they melodic or harmonic,
or a combination of both
- a renewed identity,
becomes an essential
compositional aim,
through which the process
of crystallization
occurs. The main strategy
of the piece is thus
exploring the
interrelationship between
these two sound-worlds
(modal and chromatic) and
their temporal qualities
(ancient and modern),
musical or otherwise.
