Azure Miles Records ~ The Music of Michael Robinson
Michael Robinson
Summer Morning
1. Summer Morning (2010) 39.55
Meruvina: harpsichord, clarinet, pipa, tabla, dholak, dhol, conga, bottle, shaker, rotating drum, rainstick, tanpura
| Summer Morning |
Summer Morning gets
its opening melodic figure from my previous composition. One of Ganamurti's
phrases sparked an idea for an entirely new piece. After working with the phrase, which centers on panchama, I decided to turn
panchama into shadja, resulting in a new raga, which I have been unable to find
any previous record of.
Indians believe that all ragas have always existed, and any particular raga
may or may never be discovered by humans. The raga I came upon, and named Summer
Morning, will be a challenge for most musicians, and features komal rishabha,
madhyama, tivra madhyama, panchama, komal dhaivata, and nishada.
Harpsichord, which is fun to hear with Indian tunings, voices the through-composed
melodic part in counterpoint to a composite through-composed percussion voice
made-up of tabla, dholak and dhol.
The figure from Ganamurti is played by a clarinet, and echoed by a pipa, at
the beginning of each of Summer Morning's three sections. Supporting percussion
ostinatos feature conga, bottle, shaker and dhol. Anchoring it all are a composite
drone and a tanpura drone.
If pressed, I would have to say that summer is my favorite season, and perhaps
that is the reason why I have lived in the sunny, warm climates of Los Angeles
and Hawaii after leaving my native New York. In summertime, there is a feeling of having arrived, as opposed to the transitional
sensation of the other seasons.
Even though I appear to be definitely more of a “night” person, one
cannot deny the unique freshness of morning time when it is delightfully cooler,
especially in summer.
Summer Morning moves like a procession or expedition, and it doesn't really
sound anything like my Los Angeles neighborhood, unless we take into account
that artists truly live in their dreams.
My percussion writing in 2009, and this year, continues to reflect admiration
for the tabla artistry of the magnificent Anindo Chatterjee.
- Michael Robinson, September 2010, Los Angeles
© 2010 Michael Robinson All rights reserved