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Songs of Kabir (2005)

Instrumentation: flute and guitar
Duration: 18'
Commission: Arc Duo (Heather Holden, flute; Bradley Colten, guitar)
Premiere: Arc Duo, Merkin Concert Hall, New York, NY (May 2005)

I. Friend, wake up!
II. The harp gives forth murmurous music
III. The flute of interior time
IV. O Friend! This body is His lyre
V. I know the sound of the ecstatic flute

excerpt from mvt. I Friend, wake up!

excerpt from mvt. IV O Friend! This body is His lyre

Arc Duo, Columbus State University Schwob School of Music, Columbus, GA (November 2008)

The fifteenth-century Indian mystic Kabir, a weaver by trade, “was essentially a poet and musician: rhythm and harmony were to him the garments of beauty and truth” (Evelyn Underhill, Introduction to Rabindranath Tagore's Songs of Kabir). These pieces for flute and guitar – inspired by poems by Kabir which make literal or figurative mention of the flute, or of various plucked string instruments – are, in a sense, songs without words. Much of the musical material evolved from the process of “setting to music” translations of Kabir’s poetry by Robert Bly (songs 1, 3, and 5) and Tagore (songs 2 and 4). The rhythms and overall flavor of these English versions significantly informed the writing for both instruments, as did the unique blend of mischievous humor and passionate devotion so integral to Kabir’s style.

Songs of Kabir was commissioned by, and is dedicated to the Arc Duo.