Some of the musical activities I find most rewarding include performing chamber music and collaborating with composers on new works. One of my recent projects combines both - a commission for a new saxophone duo with electronics. It was a meaningful undertaking on many levels as it allowed me to work with former Lawrence classmate Jesse Dochnahl (LU, class of '05), and colleague Asha Srinivasan (LU Assistant Professor of Music Theory, Composition, and Electronic Music).
Asha Srinivasan completed the duo, entitled "Keerthanata," in 2012, at which time it was premiered at the 2012 Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States conference. Like much of Asha Srinivasan's music, "Keerthanata" combines elements of both Western and South Indian classical music. The saxophone parts are highly interactive, featuring a heterophonic texture and melodic elements based on an Indian raga. The electronic accompaniment combines electronic and acoustic sounds and includes sounds produced by the saxophone such as slap tongue and key clicks.
Asha Srinivasan comments on the piece:
"Keerthanata" is a play on words combining the names for a standard form in South Indian classical music, keerthanam, with the Western musical term sonata. The melodic structure of Indian music known as raga often has a different ascending and descending form, often with zig-zags in the scalar pattern. The mode I invented for this piece models these aspects using all twelve pitches and employing complementary sets that lead to a wide array of characteristic chromatic gestures...Much of Indian classical music is highly emotional and serious, and this is also true of most of my music, but here I wanted to share the light, energetic aspect of Indian music and thereby infuse my own music with some frivolity!"
Listen: Sara Kind and Jesse Dochnahl perform "Keerthanata"
