Sofia Kamayianni

for Piano+ and percussion

Potawatomi, a Native American language of the Great Plains region, as described by Robert Macfarlane in his book Underland - A Deep Time Journey, includes the word ‘puhpowee’, which might be translated as ‘the force that makes mushrooms emerge from the ground overnight’. In all its technical vocabulary Western science has no such term, no words to encompass this mystery. In Potawatomi, by contrast, almost all words declare the animacy or in-animacy of that to which they refer. The language is predisposed to recognize life in otherness, and to extend the reach of that category of ‘life’ far beyond its familiar limits in Western thought. This concept fascinated and inspired me, motivating my imagination in the composition of this work. Given that the piece is greatly concerned with timbre and sound, the Piano+ system was ideally suited to take a major role in the piece, since it provides such a variety and range of new sounds from an existing instrument. This approach also continued over into the use of percussion, which was selected and designed in order to contribute to the timbral and then rhythmic world of the piece. 

Click here to view the score and listen to a recording.

Click here to view performance notes, which describe the Piano+ system.