Liquid Heart
INSTRUMENTATION:
3(p)222 / 4231 / timp 2perc* hp / str
Piccolo, 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets in B-flat, 2 Bassoons
4 Horns in F, 2 Trumpets in C, 2 Tenor Trombones, 1 Bass Trombone, 1 Tuba
Timpani, 2 Percussion, Harp, Strings
* Percussion 1: chimes, large bass drum, small triangle;
* Percussion 2: glockenspiel, vibraphone, tambourine, large triangle, suspended cymbal.
PROGRAM NOTES:
(Short)
นำ้ใจ NaamJai (Liquid Heart) for Orchestra (2015) was commissioned by the Albany (NY) Symphony Orchestra and made possible by generous funding of the A.W. Mellon Foundation for the 2015 “Migrations” American Music Festival. Daivd Alan Miller conducted the Albany Symphony premiere performance on May 16, 2015 in Troy, New York.
Kindness flows from a “liquid heart,” which is treasured for its giving, loving and open nature. We encountered this generosity of spirit often during the three years my family lived in Bangkok, Thailand. Our time there was bookended by two major events: the slowly rising floodwaters of 2011 and the bubbling political discontent that led to military coup d’etat of 2013-14. In both instances, there was a long period of stressful uncertainty as the events unfolded; this tension is present throughout the work, which unfolds through three emotional, rather than transcriptive, sections: Twittering, Laughing; Floating Dreams Upon the Water Under a Full Moon; and Slow and Heavy, with Heat and Tension.
— Notes by Andrea Reinkemeyer
(Long)
นำ้ใจ NaamJai (Liquid Heart) for Orchestra (2015) was commissioned by the Albany (NY) Symphony Orchestra and made possible by generous funding of the A.W. Mellon Foundation for the 2015 “Migrations” American Music Festival. Daivd Alan Miller conducted the Albany Symphony premiere performance on May 16, 2015 in Troy, New York.
Kindness flows from a “liquid heart,” which is treasured for its giving, loving and open nature. We encountered this generosity of spirit often during the three years my family lived in Bangkok, Thailand. Our time there was bookended by two major events: the slowly rising floodwaters of 2011 and the bubbling political discontent that led to military coup d’etat of 2013-14. In both instances, there was a long period of stressful uncertainty as the events unfolded; this tension is present throughout the work, which unfolds through three emotional, rather than transcriptive, sections: Twittering, Laughing; Floating Dreams Upon the Water Under a Full Moon; and Slow and Heavy, with Heat and Tension.
The first section draws upon the great diversity of birds found throughout Thailand in addition to the beautiful tonality of the language. The second section refers to Loi Krathong, a festival of lights to celebrate the importance of water within the Thai culture. As the full moon rises, people float baskets upon the water or release lanterns into the evening sky. The final section mixes together heat, blaring horns, and the sparkling edifice of the temples.
— Notes by Andrea Reinkemeyer
These notes may be used with proper attribution.
(Updated 2019-1125)
“In the tone poem “NaamJai,” Andrea Reinkemeyer drew inspiration from her recent three years of living in Thailand. The most boisterous and ungrounded music of the night, it started off in a bumping, rather brutalist manner. Eventually things settled into a more lyric and consonant expansiveness, highlighted by a sweet, extended quartet for the principal strings.”
