Prisms, Cycles, Leaps

Premiered by the Los Angeles chamber Orchestra Prisms, Cycles, Leaps is an orchestral piece that bridges the space between the music of the Balkans, the Volta Region of Ghana and North Indian Hindustani classical music. The time signature of the piece is in a foundational 3/2, but shifts its emphasis to 6/4, 12/8, and 7/8 +5/8 in different sections by using polyrhythmic ostinatos that are found in Ghanaian religious drum ceremonies. The melodic lines of Prisms, Cycles, Leaps combine elements of Balkan music and Hindustani classical music. While the melodic lines use an ornamentation specific to Bulgarian women’s choir music (similar to accaciaturas found in Baroque music), the larger form of the melodic lines resembles the tihai rhythmic cadence and the long phrases found in improvised Hindustani classical music. Tihai is a thrice-repeated rhythmic phrase that is used to end a section or conclude a piece in Hindustani classical music. The title Prisms, Cycles, Leaps references a search for beauty in life and nature through multiple and varied yet cyclical experiences.