Water (2017) – Krists Auznieks (Latvia/United States)
Photo by Ann DuHamel
Look for notes, listen to them somewhere in the distance.
The principal sonority of the piece makes the pianist spread his fingers in such a way that they resemble angel’s wings. Each wing is a also a reflection of the other.
What is water?
a river rain faucet dripping a sprinkler a fountain
waterfalls wet hands snow vapor steam pebbles
a stone touching the surface of a lake drowning fumes in water
drenched silk tears sfumato blood flow
a brook sperm watercolors ice crystals water as a metaphor for time
saliva water as a symbol of will blue or transparent water breaking
flashes of light reflected in water ripples eddies sweat droplets
flood aqueducts wells baptism water signs coconut water and petrichor.
The protagonist doesn’t drown, the book that the story is in does!
Or the rock that has been listening to those many lives of humans, all the same;
it falls in the lake with all the tales it has accumulated over eons, it is a plunge!
Who will be there to tell that forgotten story to the next generation?
No one?
Will we have to make the same humane human mistakes all over again?
The rock falls in love and this is an ode to that.
Ann adds: this is one of the pieces on the program that uses some auxiliary “equipment” to be performed. While not aleatoric, there is flexibility in regard to timing of some of the piece, while other passages are notated rhythmically. Let yourself be immersed in the flow of the water.
Video by Ann DuHamel
Krists Auznieks is a New York-based Latvian composer. His quintet was featured in The New York Times among the week’s best classical music moments. His climate opera NeoArctic, co-written with British techno producer Andy Stott, won Danish Reumert Prize and had its US premiere at The Kennedy Center.
He has been commissioned by Atlanta Symphony, Bang on a Can, American Composers Orchestra, Aspen Music Festival, Cappella Amsterdam, Latvian Radio Choir, Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra, Contemporaneous, and Sinfonietta Riga. Auznieks’ music has been performed at The Lincoln Center, The Walt Disney Concert Hall, The Royal Danish Theatre, Beijing National Arts Centre, Amsterdam’s Muziekgebouw, London’s Southbank Center, New York’s The Kitchen and National Sawdust, Théâtre De Nîmes (France) and featured in Gaudeamus Muziekweek (Holland), American Music Festival, New York’s MATA and Chelsea Music Festivals, Arctic Arts Festival (Norway), World Cultures Festival (Hong Kong), and UNESCO International Rostrum in Finland.
Recent recognitions include Jacob Druckman Prize from Aspen Music Festival, Latvian National Grand Music Award, fellowships from Aspen, Norfolk, Bennington, NEXT festivals, American Academy of Fontainebleau, Serenbe Institute, Hermitage Artist Retreat, and ACO Sarasota Orchestra Earshot. He has served on the faculty of Yale School of Music, Montclair State University and has also taught for the New York Philharmonic’s Very Young Composers Program. Website: www.auznieks.com
photo by Ann DuHamel
Ann DuHamel 