ISLAND ('eeslahnd')
Christopher Kaufman
About this work:
NOTE: there are successful versions of this piece which time 12:30 or 17 minutes.
ISLAND celebrates and monumentalizes Iceland - her land, history and mythology, and tells a clear story the listener can follow.
ISLAND begins a ‘landscape painting in sound’. One can hear mountains, glacial ridges, volcanic undercurrent, fjords and the ocean which surrounds this land so inspiring to my musical imagination. The first ‘movement’ climaxes as the volcano erupts. Afterwards the journey continues to the shore and ocean. Here there are shorebirds, a romantic ‘dance’ with a mermaid and the adventure into the sea begins.
At this point two new aspects join the thread. First, there is a ‘figurative touch’ where the ancient mariners took to the sea to reach ‘Vinland’ (as is referenced in Bill Holm’s poem written for the premier). This is to help connect the listeners to the story: i.e. the ‘adventurers’ are the listeners who experience the tale through the music. Also, the movement into ocean symbolizes the journey into the subconscious and the element of mythology becomes prominent.
There is the ‘Embarkation’, the ‘Tempest’, a brief encounter with ‘Iormangandr - the Sea Serpent’ and the reaching of ‘The New Earth’ - which simultaneously represents the successful conclusion to the Icelanders’ journey west and the peaceful ending of the Icelandic mythology - the Ragnarok - where a new earth rises from the sea after cataclysm and the destruction of the old.
Therefore ISLAND is a ’landscape painting in sound’, an adventure after Icelandic history tied together with Icelandic mythology and also symbolic of one’s ‘personal journey’.
Version: sans narrator
Year composed: 2005
Duration: 00:22:00
Ensemble type: Orchestra:Standard Orchestra
Instrumentation: 1 Piccolo, 1 Flute, 1 Oboe, 1 English Horn, 1 Clarinet, 1 Bass Clarinet, 1 Bassoon, 1 Contrabassoon, 4 Horn in F, 3 Trumpet, 2 Trombone, 1 Bass Trombone, 1 Tuba, 1 Timpani, 2 Percussion (General), 1 Piano, 1 Strings (General), 1 Harp