![]() ![]() Littlebird’s performance as flautist, percussionist and narrator was compelling. When the climax finally came, the music spilled over into a grand, sweeping melody with full orchestration, which sounded like a routine Western film score for a majestic scene on Indian territory.Īs an audience-friendly work, “When Echoes Speak” did its job. This was less affecting than the previous sections there simply wasn’t enough musical interest happening there besides the simple buildup. ![]() Riffs piled up one by one as the music crescendoed. About halfway through the piece, the music oscillated between two simple chords. Littlebird then poignantly played an end-blown flute. When a reconstruction was played, it sounded four notes of a pentatonic scale the underlining music used only four notes. This led into a four beat groove over which Littlebird declared, “Music is a force of nature that has always existed.” He spoke of the oldest instrument yet discovered, a bone flute found at a Neanderthal site. Littlebird walked onstage from the wings playing a pentatonic melody on a bone whistle. The piece began with flutes, piccolo and percussionists (playing an array of American Indian instruments) gently improvising over a drone in the low strings. It was fashioned as a vehicle for Littlebird’s flute playing and storytelling, with composer Max Wolpert as his collaborator. “When Echoes Speak” reflects this in its comfortable populism. Unlike the composers above who could be labeled classical musicians, Littlebird crossed over from folk and country music. And on Saturday at UC San Diego’s Mandeville Auditorium, Leon Joseph Littlebird joined the La Jolla Symphony for the world premiere of his composition “When Echoes Speak,” which closed the first half of the “Echoes of Color” concert program. Two weeks ago, the San Diego Symphony presented music by Chickasaw composer Jerod Tate at the Sycuan Casino. In March, Leilehua Lanzilotti and the Argus Quartet played works by Lanzilotti and Inti Figgis-Vizueta. In 2022, Raven Chacon won the Pulitzer Prize in Music, a first for an American Indian, and last fall San Diego Opera premiered Gabriela Lena Frank’s “El último sueño de Frida y Diego.” The past year in music has been good for Indigenous American composers. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |