Ta’amolan

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.