New Mexico

"I hope that this compositions, in addition to enhancing the repertoire, can take audiences on musical journeys and travels to places where some of the indigenous sounds inspired me to write it. Using traditional folklore in written music enables the composer to pay tribute to the musical cultures that have enriched our lives. These timeless varieties of inherited wisdom have given all of us in music the constant lesson of how to express ourselves truthfully, purely and simply.
The concerto is in three movements. The first movement, Taos, begins with the orchestra and then the trumpet stating the first theme, "The Moonlight Song", a traditional, romantic song from the Taos Pueblo in northern New Mexico. It is followed by a second lively traditional southwest Native American Indian social song, also popular at the orchestra in a musical dialogue. For the past six summers I have performed at music festivals in Taos and have given a free outdoor concert each year which encludes peforming with members of the Taos Pueblo. The first movement is dedicated to these magnificent singers and dancers and to Lorenzo Suazo, a master traditional singer who encouraged me to learn more about the ancient classical music of our contient. The second movement, Blues and Variations, uses the twelve - bar form that has become one of America's enduring influences on music of the twentieth century. The solo statement of the theme by the trumpet is followed by a series of twelve - bar variations and coda. The final movement, Taxim (A middle eastern musical expression meaning to improvise with gusto), is written in rondo form. After the theme is stated, the trumpet introduces an ancient melody in 6/8 that is played throughout the Middle East and originated in Tunisia. A cadenza is followed by one of the best - known melodies in the Middle East, Aya Zehn, which I learned in Cairo in 1978 during a concert tour. The devolpment sections that follow and lead back to the final statement of the rondo theme are written in Hijaz, a mode that is used from Cairo to Jerusalem, and has influenced much of our central and Spanish music.

Lista utworów:
Travels (Amram David)