Itaipu (Philip Glass)

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Itaipu or Itaipú is a four-movement symphonic work with mixed choir by the American composer Philip Glass in the style of minimal music . Glass wrote it in 1989 after visiting the Itaipu Dam in Brazil and Paraguay . It is part three of a trilogy of works on nature and modern technology as " Nature Portrait " and follows the works The Light and The Canyon .

occupation

Performers are a large orchestra with three woodwinds, a large brass apparatus, piano , 2 harps , percussion (four players) and strings, plus a mixed choir.

description

Basic approach

The choir sings to the orchestra's motifs sketching the landscape and the dam a creation myth of the Guaraní in their language of the same name , which is one of the most widespread Indian languages ​​in South America and is spoken by 90% of the population in Paraguay. Glass uses a creation myth in his text that deals with a deluge , which is caused by the wrongdoing of a god, but which could be overcome through song, dance and prayer.

sentences

Glass divides the work into 4 sentences, which merge into one another:

  1. Mato grosso ("The forest")
  2. The Lake ( "The Lake")
  3. The Dam ("The dam", here also: "The machines")
  4. To the Sea ("Towards the Sea").

“Matto grosso” opens quietly, almost calmly - the mood is reminiscent of a quiet swamp. "The Lake" is a picture of waves on the water with the driving rhythms characteristic of Glass. "The Dam" begins with a kind of fanfare. It heralds the huge, man-made structure, the huge dam. The music seems sublime, majestic, the text speaks of the "center of the world". This intensive part builds up dynamically. "To the Sea", again in a majestic, reverent mood, conveys the water masses of a slowly flowing river heading towards the ocean.

Performances

It premiered on November 2, 1989, with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra conducted by Robert Shaw. The German premiere was on February 12, 2006 in the Bremen Cathedral with the orchestra and choir of the University of Bremen under the direction of Susanne Gläß.

Publications (selection)

  • Itaipu, Los Angeles Master Chorale with Grant Gershon, Orange Mountain Music (2010)
  • Itaipu & The Canyon , Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus under Robert Shaw, Sony Classicals (1990)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Robert M. Tilendis: Philip Glass' Itaipu / The Canyon. In: http://thegreenmanreview.com/ . Green Man Review, 1993, accessed January 13, 2020 (UK English).
  2. ^ Concerts for the tenth anniversary of the University Music Bremen ( Memento from January 1st, 2017 in the Internet Archive ).