October 14, 2005

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Searching for harmony

by Rebecca Wallace

Amidst the pain of the present day, they often collide. But Christianity, Judaism and Islam mingle companionably in the world of "Ayre."

In his 2004 composition, a spicy mélange of songs with roots in 15th-century Spanish folk music, composer Osvaldo Golijov harks back to a time when Christians, Jews and Muslims lived together peacefully.

"It's the possibility of harmony," he said. "Today there's so much division. One wants to think that the world makes progress, but sometimes we go backwards."

"Ayre," which will be performed at Stanford Lively Arts on Oct. 23, also blends languages. Lyrics are in ancient Aramaic, Hebrew, Arabic, Sardinian, Spanish and Ladino, the traditional language of Sephardic Jews. The word "Ayre" itself means "air" or "melody" in medieval Spanish.

Combining cultures is far from foreign to Golijov, who was born into a Russian-Romanian Jewish family in Argentina in 1960. And his hope for harmony leads to what some might see as unlikely bedfellows.

At one point, for example, Golijov juxtaposes a poem by contemporary Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish called "Kun li-guitari wataran ayyuha al-maa'" ("Be a string, water, to my guitar") with a 12th-century Sephardic call to prayer.

The composer was also struck by the universal nature of Darwish's words, which he said can resonate with any conquered people:

"Be a string, water, to my guitar,

Conquerors come, conquerors go...

It's getting hard to remember my face in the mirrors.

Be memory for me

So I can see what I've lost."

At times, listening to "Ayre" is akin to a midnight hike on the moon: there's an ever-present sense of adventure, and you're never sure what sort of terrain your foot will fall on next.

Besides mixing cultures, the songs of "Ayre" span various musical styles. Some have a whirling, frenetic tempo, while others are sweet and slow. Noted soprano Dawn Upshaw, a veteran of opera, sacred music and more contemporary works, is also called upon to push the edges of her vocal range.

"Very few singers can really get under the skin of so many styles," said Golijov, who wrote "Ayre" expressly for Upshaw. It seemed a perfect fit, he said, considering it includes emotions high and low, as well as howls, wails and moans.

"It's like 11 different singers," Golijov said. "It's a marathon for her."

The other musicians at the Stanford show will be the contemporary ensemble eighth blackbird and South American composer and guitarist Gustavo Santaolalla. Besides the 45-minute "Ayre," the Stanford performance will also include duets by Upshaw and Santaolalla. In addition, eighth blackbird will play "Tied Shifts," a 2004 composition by Derek Bermel.

The performance will include flute, clarinet, percussion, piano and strings. But Golijov isn't content with these more conventional instruments.

He's written the sound of jingling door keys into "Ariadna en su laberinto" ("Ariadne in her labyrinth"), a traditional Sephardic romance, to give it an extra percussion kick.

And the driving rhythm of "Wa Habibi" ("My Love"), a traditional Christian Arab Easter song, is fueled by the chuck-chuck beat of a rhythm track created on a laptop computer.

A computer seems fitting for folk songs, the music of the people, Golijov said: "The laptop in the hands of young people today has become an (musical) instrument."

For one of his next endeavors, the composer is also taking on a modern medium: the movie. He's working with film producer and director Francis Ford Coppola to write the soundtrack for the forthcoming "Youth Without Youth, which is based on a novella by Romanian author Mircea Eliade.

"It's a very artsy film," Golijov said. "The soundtrack will be intimate and haunting."


What: The Northern California premiere of Osvaldo Golijov's "Ayre," performed by Dawn Upshaw, eighth blackbird and Gustavo Santaolalla.


Where: Memorial Auditorium, Stanford University.


When: 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 23.


Cost: $50/$42/$30 for adults, with $40 tickets for premier seating. Student discounts and half-price tickets for those ages 15 and under are available.


Info: Call (650) 725-ARTS or go to livelyarts.stanford.edu.

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