The Migration of Lost Souls
American Composers Orchestra
About this work:
IN THE COMPOSER’S OWN WORDS
In recent years, there have been many natural disasters, all around the world, and many families have lost their loved ones. The Migration of Lost Souls is a meditation on the journeys to the afterlife of those lost souls. I was inspired by the sounds of bells heard in the temples of Thailand. In fact, the main pitch materials are derived from the numerous and sonically-varied bells found at Doi Suthep Temple in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Beginning and ending with haunting and sorrowful sounds, the piece has three main sections: slow, fast, and slow. The strong opening statement presents the main pitch materials, derived from the temple bells, and is followed by a development, in slow tempo, of fragments of the same musical ideas. This first section ends with a gradual fading away. A shimmering gesture in the woodwinds leads to the fast middle section and the entire orchestra announces this section’s main motive. This fast and dance-like section has the flavor of the energetic music called mor lam, which is native to Isaan, Thailand’s Northeast area, and which features both extremely flexible melodies and rapid tempos. Here, a xylophone imitates the sound of a local instrument, the pong lang, a wooden “log xylophone”. After one last climax, the third and final section of this work reprises the idea of fading away, in depiction of the last breath of the lost loved ones’ souls before their journey to heaven.
Version: Narong Prangcharoen
Year composed: 2012
Duration: 15:00:00
Ensemble type: Orchestra
Instrumentation: 1 Flute, 1 Oboe, 1 Clarinet, 1 Bassoon, 1 Horn in F, 1 Trumpet, 1 Trombone, 1 Tuba, 1 Timpani, 2 Percussion (General), 1 Piano, 1 Strings (General)