ΦΩΝΗ ΑΥΡΑΣ ΛΕΠΤΗΣ | Phoni Avras Leptis (2022)
”Voice of a Delicate Breeze”
for cello and piano
14 minutes (4 movements)
Commissioned by Katelyn Vahala and Annie Jacobs-Perkins of Insert Music Here, with funding provided by Pro Musicis Foundation.
Program Notes
Phoni Avras Leptis was inspired by a passage in the biblical Book of Kings, as it was translated into Greek in the Septuagint. The translated passage, notably a little different from the original Hebrew, describes the revelation of God to Prophet Elijah in the form of “a voice of a delicate breeze”:
11. …and behold a great strong wind destroying the mountains and crushing the rocks before the Lord: but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind a mighty earthquake: but the Lord was not in the earthquake.
12. and after the earthquake a fire: but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire a voice of a delicate breeze: and the Lord was there.
(Third Book of Kings, 19:11-12, trans. from the Greek by Stratis Minakakis)
The images of a strong wind, an earthquake, and a fire appear in a sonic vortex that centers around the image of the “gentle breeze.”
Purchase
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Performances
March 5, 2025 | Annie Jacobs-Perkins and Katelyn Vahala at the Goethe Institut Boston
January 22, 2025 | TJ Borden and Jihye Chang in Jordan Hall, Boston
December 10, 2024 | TJ Borden and Jihye Chang at Lilypad, Cambridge
September 23, 2022 | Premiere, Annie Jacobs-Perkins and Katelyn Vahala at Pasadena Conservatory