Itaipu
Philip Glass
About this work:
(Published by Dunvagen Music Publishers.)
Epic grandeur lies at the heart of Itaipu, a 1988 composition inspired by Glass’ visit to the humongous hydro-electric project on the Parana River, on the border between Brazil and Paraguay. The project’s scale is super-humanly large: the dam itself is five miles wide and half as tall as the Empire State Building. Overwhelmed the enormity of the engineering, Class conceived Itaipu as a generally admiring musical commentary. The work’s four movements trace the flow of the water from its origins in Brazil’s Mato Grosso highlands, into the newly created lake, through the dam itself, and on to the sea. Through its musical material is inherently symphonic, each movement includes a choral text (in the native Guarani language) relating portions of the creation legend of the native people, who regard the Parana River as “the place where music was born” and once home to “Itaipu,” a “singing stone” that vibrated in the rapids where the dam now stands.
Program notes copyright James M. Keller. Used by permission.
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Year composed: 1989
Duration: 00:38:00
Ensemble type: Chorus, with or without Solo Voices:Chorus with Orchestra
Instrumentation: 2 Flute, 3 Oboe, 3 Clarinet, 2 Bassoon, 1 Contrabassoon, 6 Horn in F, 4 Trumpet, 2 Trombone, 1 Bass Trombone, 1 Tuba, 4 Percussion (General), 1 Piano, 1 Strings (General), 2 Harp, 1 S, 1 A, 1 T, 1 B
Instrumentation notes: 2nd fl(=pic.)pic.; 4 perc (SD, TD, BD, tamb, t.bells, cow bells, maracas, tgl, wdbl, cym).