A two-movement wind quintet blending Arab maqam inflections with African-inspired hocketing, the work contrasts a restless first meditation with a slow second that finally allows its harmonies to settle into focus.
Premiered by: Imani Winds
Venue: Harlem School of the Arts, New York
Commissioned by: Imani Winds Foundation, Inc.
Ta’amolan, or “two meditations” in Arabic, is a two-movement work for wind quintet inspired by a combination of the microtonally-inflected maqamat heard in Arab music, rhythmic hocketing from Subsaharan Africa, and the five main voices that reflect the pitch organization of the Banda-Linda wooden horn ensembles heard in Central Africa. The first “meditation” is relentless in its pursuit of landing on grounded harmonies, though it never quite does so until its first and final cadence about five minutes into the movement. The second “meditation” is quite the opposite in terms of affect: slow, contemplative, and bare. The chords that never quite materialized in the first movement are now heard with much more clarity.
