Music from Caves / A kind of rebirth

- to victims and survivors

Brass band

Commissioned by C-Y contemporary/Swedish Arts Council 2010

Stefan Klaverdal 2011

Duration: approx 12-15 min

 

 

Score (pdf)

Recording

 

 

Music from Caves / A kind of rebirth is a piece composed in five parts loosely connected to the human relationship to caves and mines.

The five parts are:

 

Echoes – Songs – Dances – Cavities – Dreams

 

Music from Caves / A kind of rebirth is inspired from the long relation humans have to cavities in the ground, both natural caves and

man-made mines. There is a flora of myths and stories all taking place in caves, such as PlatoÕs cave that is an allegory of our world, the

Mayas (and many others) connection between the afterlife and underground, our Nordic ideas about goblins and other small folk living

beneath the earth.

The piece is to begin with somewhat more concrete, and the subtitles relate to both things to be found in caves/mines and activities

one can be inspired to do there.

During my research on our relationship to and our activities in caves/mines I started to think about mining accidents. I was again hit by

the force of the stories coming from ÒLos 33Ó, the survivors of the mining accident in Copiap—, Chile 2010. 33 miners were trapped for

69 days 5 kilometres under ground. After the miraculous rescue, the Chilean president Sebasti‡n Pi–era held a speech, saying:

 

"God never gives us a job we cannot do. Tonight we have experienced something we will never forget—full of emotion. We have experienced a kind of rebirth."

 

Looking at the event as a metaphor, I think we all can relate to it. Most people have been through tough times and come out at the

other end. Perhaps this is what makes the story fantastic. Thus the piece can be listened to either as five images of things to be found or done

in caves, or as a homage to victims and survivors of difficult times. Or both.

 

Music from Caves / A kind of rebirth was premiered by ¯resund Brassband/Jonas Nydesjš in Malmš may 15th 2011