Avalokite Duo - The Planets (2019)

Lou Harrison said: A friend reminded me that Conductor L. Stokowski was about to celebrate his 90th birthday, and that several composers had already written short pieces for the occasion so in a hurry, I composed Jahla. It was performed, with other pieces, during the birthday party for this dear friend. In Jahla, the compositional technique was taken from that practiced in northern India, where a pedal is used between the notes of the melody, thus producing the sound of perpetual movement. About Avalokiteshvara, Harrison said: Avalokiteshvara is the Buddha of compassion, he who saves all creatures. It is a piece written in the Korean style called The Delightful. Music for Bill and Me (1967), for Harp is dedicated to his life partner William Colvig, an electrician and passionate musician with a great interest in acoustics. Bill built several percussion instruments that were used by Lou over the course of many years. The mysteries of the sky greatly influenced ancient civilizations across the world, inspiring human beings in every era to travel through the heavens, imagining and creating stories and legends for their own cultures. Just as the planets seem to wander in the sky as they change position in relation to the fixed position of stars, our minds, with eyes turned upward toward the immense firmament above, wander in an imaginary and irrational world of stories about them. The Planets is a suite composed of a series of nine short musical tales inspired by the moods, sensations and imagination that connect us to mythology and astrology. Each story is dedicated to a planet and its characteristics, and this in their dreamlike game, has stimulated the imagination of the composer of the suite.