Rova Saxophone Quartet - Terry Riley: Chanting the Light of Foresight - 1994

"Chanting the Light of Foresight (imbas forasnai) es una composición de 1987 del compositor vanguardista asociado al minimalismo Terry Riley, escrita para y comisionada por el Rova Saxophone Quartet, aunque durante el curso de la composición se decidió que Rova escribirían "The Chord of War" y "The Pipes of Medb/Medb's Blues" contiene improvisación.Fue editada en cd en 1994.


The Cattle Raid of Cooley is a central part of the eighth-century Ulster cycle of heroic tales and is Ireland's nearest approach to a great epic. It tells the story of a giant cattle-raid, the invasion of Ulster by the armies of Medb and Ailill, queen and king of Connacht, and their allies, seeking to carry off the great Brown Bull of Cuailnge (Cooley). Chanting the Light of Foresight is based on this legend and was written in 1987 for the Rova saxophone quartet.

"The Tuning Path and The Pipes of Medb represent the deep night on the fields where the armies of Queen Medb are gathered, where the only sound is the wind blowing through giant organ-like pipes to signal time's static passage. The opening ends with Medb's Blues, which is in the form of a six-bar 10/4 blues tune."

"Song Announcing Dawn's Combat" concerns the story's main adversaries, Cuchulainn and Ferdia, who are foster brothers. The intricate 7/8 rhythms and pulsing drones within hindustani scales tip my intention to link this Irish epic with that of its more famous brother, the Bhagavad Gita, a similar tale of war and moral duty. In a moving plea, Cuchulainn tries to convince Ferdia that he has been tricked by Medb into fighting him and that it is certain he will be killed. Ferdia ignores the warning. The hand to hand battle lasts several days with both warriors retiring each night to lick their wounds before resuming the next dawn's battle. Cuchulainn, after many days of fighting with various weapons, finally slays Ferdia with his secret weapon, the gae bolga."

"The gift of prophecy is enacted as the Light of Foresight in a scene where the hero Cuchulainn has completed his warrior and shamanistic training under his guru, Scathach. She chants to him his future through the light of foresight. The chant is composed in sets of repeating phrases that couple 8/8 and 7/8 measures that undergo continual variation towards more impassioned and frantic statements before ending much as it begins."

"Ferdia's Death Chant is the lament of Cúchulainn as he removes the gae bolga from Ferdia's lifeless body. It is performed in the same tuning as the Pipes of Medb and is in simple four-part chorale form." -Terry Riley
(http://amherstsaxophonequartet.com/content/chanting-light-foresight-1987-terry-riley-0)

Terry Riley - "The Pipes Of Medb" + "Medb's Blues"

MOVIMIENTOS
The Tuning Path
The Pipes of Medb/Medb's Blues
Song Announcing Dawn's Combat
The Chord of War
Ferdia's Death Chant
Chanting the Light of Foresight

The piece has been recorded and released on:
Chanting the Light of Foresight (1994), performed by Rova. New Albion: NA064CD."