Sinivadas (2018)
Duration:
6’45”
Instrumentation:
Picc./Flute, Alto Saxophone, Clarinet in Bb/Contrabass Clarinet in Bb, Trombone, Piano, Electric Guitar, Violin, Viola, Contrabass
Programme Note
There is a tradition of ancient chanting in Lithuania called “sutartinės.” These are canons, usually with clustering, dissonant harmonies, and traditionally chanted by women only (although there are some male-only sutartinės too). These songs or chants contain some words that have long lost their meaning in Lithuanian, but surprisingly have meaning in the Indian Sanskrit language. They are believed to be a kind of ancient mantra with healing power, and some of them mention medicinal herbs. Sinivadas (Thalictrum aquilegifolium) is one of those herbs. The sutartinė has only three lines of lyrics, all of which are sound words: “Sinivadas auga, lioj žaliarutitėl, žalia rūto; Sinivadėli, žaliarutitėli, žaliarutitėli.” These lyrics are endlessly repeated over and over.
For the piece, I did not quote the actual melody of the song, but rather used some harmony and clustering soloing lines. The compositions has an ongoing form, moving from one state of mind to another, and none of the sections are repeated.