(Sonically) Translating Without Engendering (Sonic) Destruction

The Silk Road Ensemble is founded in 1998 by Yo-Yo Ma, cellist, as “a catalyst, promoting innovation and learning through the arts... to maintain the integrity of art rooted in authentic traditions while nourishing global connections

One way in which this is done is through commissioning workshops where composers construct new pieces combing historical traditions of music along the Silk Road with their own ideas and those of others.

In the case of one such piece, Night at the Caravanserai, are these goals accomplished? Does this work strike a balance between authenticity and innovation?

Persia (part of Islamic empire after 636)

Ottoman Empire (Byzantine before 1453)

Japan

China Transoxiana

The Silk Road: Geographical, Historical, Political, Commercial Contexts

Instruments

The Mahur and Persian MusicMahur: a Persian mode possessing the mode’s “usual properties of pitch functions and intervals, plus a particular melodic format upon which improvisation and composition are created” (Hormoz 23)Radif: a melodic idea which forms the basis for improvisation Forud: a formula repeated but also modified for ending a section of the song or the song itself (a cadence). Sahed: a very commonly used note in the mode.

From: Hormoz, page 88

Some Conclusions

What worked? Why?• Uses the mahur mode as one of the

foundational elements of the song (the notes of the scale) while also referencing various elements of that mode’s usage in Persian classical music.

• Uses two flutes together that come from mystical traditions and sound similar; helps the main melody to blend extremely well.

• Percussion (dumbeq) offers both a background beat and a linking sound between the various parts of the song.

What is problematic? Why? • A few transitions between

sections not clear. There are parts that need more than just the percussion to move smoothly between each other.

• This means that the connections between these the sections, and the musical traditions between them, is weak and the unity of cultures that the song is trying to bring about not as coherently executed.