– Celestial Dancers

– Guest Composer

– Guest Conductor

Celestial Dancers (Apsaras) – 2007 Kappa Kappa Psi & Tau Beta Sigma Commission Work

I was delighted and honored to write a new work for the Kappa Kappa Psi & Tau Beta Sigma Band Fraternity & Sorority National Commissioning Program which was premiered by the 2007 National Intercollegiate Band in Orlando, Florida, July 24, 2007

For inspiration, I often look to the visual arts as source material for my music. In the Summer of 2005 I visited the temples of Angkor near Siem Reap, Cambodia, the most breathtaking architectural sights I have ever seen. The temples, some as old as a thousand years, appear within the dense, deep green, tropical Cambodian jungle as if in a dream. I will carry those visions that I saw of those temples throughout my life. As soon as I began exploring these monumental temple sites, I knew I wanted to capture their power and beauty with music - thus became the basis of the work I am writing for Kappa Kappa Psi & Tau Beta Sigma.

The title of the work, “Celestial Dancers” refers to thousands of images on several of the temples, in which Apsaras (the Celestial Dancers) are intricately carved in Bas-Reliefs. Graceful, other-worldy, seductive, mysterious, they seem to beckon the mortals to the Heavens. The work is a large-scaled 4 movement piece:

I. Faces (The Bayon): The Bayon is a temple filled with monolithic faces, calm, reassuring but enigmatic. The music displays the awesomeness of these visions of a distant past. It gives a sense of the grandeur of the temple, but also displays the peacefulness in the countenance of these serene, extraordinary faces.

II. Trees (Ta Prohm): Ta Prohm is one of the most evocative of the Angkor temple complexes. Massive trees surround, indeed grow from, around, over and through this temple. Sometimes the trees seem to be crushing the temple complex, sometimes holding it up. Nature appears beautiful, but also frightening and inexorable. Adding to the experience when I was visiting this temple, was a tremendous storm, whipping the trees - a storm that disappeared as quickly as it rose up. The music is dramatic, intense and wild - describing this spectacular jungle-temple.

III. Artisans (Banteay Srei): Banteay Srei is a smaller temple, but one of the oldest and most beautiful - filled with incredibly intricate carvings. While visiting the temple, there were a group of Cambodian musicians sitting on the grounds, playing music. They let me join in, playing a marimba-like instrument! It was a beautiful moment - but also a poignant one. The musicians were all land-mine victims. What there eyes must have seen during their lives! We were half a world away from each other in terms of language, distance and life-experience. But we were fellow musicians, trying to bring beauty into this world. I see their faces and hear their music even now. This movement describes all of the wonderful, intricate, detailed expressions in the carvings of the artisans from over 1000 years ago and in the music made by their descendents, living in a complex, sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes harrowing world. This movement is a tribute to these artisans whose art will endure through the ages.

IV. Visions (Angkor Wat): One sees its image reproduced in pictures, paintings, even on the Cambodian flag and currency. But one is not prepared for the grandeur, perfection and elegance of Ankor Wat. This temple, one of the greatest on Earth rises from the earth like a great mountain. It almost doesn’t seem to have been built - but to have been part of the natural landscape since time in memoriam. The music is noble, powerful, but also joyful. The Apsaras abound, the thousands and thousands of carvings of great, ancient stories appear as if in wondrous visions amid the massive, spectacular temple. The work concludes with an affirmation of life, of art and of beauty.