3(3=picc).3.3(3=bcl).3(3=cbn)-4.3.3.1-timp.perc(3)-pft-hp-strings
Abbreviations (PDF)
Boosey & Hawkes
Calypso, the goddess of beauty, silence and peace, in love with Odysseus, managed to hold him on her magical island for seven years, until Zeus gave the order to release him. Many scholars say that Mljet is Ogygie, the island of Calypso*
As a lifelong city dweller, this is probably the first time that I have been inspired by nature in my compositions. My visit to the stunning Croatian island of Melita (Mljet) sparked this change in me, by triggering a desire to express the experience of its sound world in my new work for the OSM.
Perched in the middle of the island is a pristine national parc whose two salted lakes flow into the Adriatic Sea via a small strait with whose banks are spanned by a metal foot-bridge.
This magical place immerses us in a dazzling state of heightened sensations of all kinds: the aroma of the pine trees, the sight of green and azure blue, the taste of the olives and wine, the touch of the wind, and the spectacular sound-worlds of its natural environment.
These latter two sense experiences find a particularly direct correlation in my piece, in which wind currents are the principal drivers of sound activities:
In the first movement (Leaves), wind acts directly on leaves and in the third (Sea), on water.
In the second movement (Crickets), the absence of wind provokes a deafening sound phenomenon. Finally, in the last movement (Bridge), only when a particular wind blows in a specific manner (named the Jugo), the metal bars of the bridge begin to vibrate and produce mesmerizing melodies.
This piece is dedicated to the memory of Damien Goldman, a marvelous boy who passed away suddenly in the summer of 2022. This loss overwhelmed me during the composition of the piece. The musical notes corresponding to the letters of his name are scattered throughout the score.
- Lišce / Leaves
- Cvrcci / Crickets
- More / Sea
- Most / Bridge
*Myths and legends, Tourist board of Mljet
— Ana Sokolovic
“an orchestrally masterful work ... Many elements are aroused by the play of the wind on the various elements, which allows Sokolovic to play with the sections of the orchestra” —The Times Hub