…I, Laika…

Description

Hope Lee presents …I, Laika… for flute, cello, and piano in a single extended movement.

In this work, the color changes, register shifts, and gestural, harmonic and melodic formations generated from the initial two notes evolve in ‘a continuous metamorphosis’. Based on the idea of doomed flight, the piece references both Laika, the first dog in space, and the disappearance of Hope Lee’s father in a military plane in China. ‘… In Lee’s playfuly eccentric ‘I, Laika’ seemingly unsynchronized rapid passages and extended techniques blend into a quirky study on Oriental cosmo-logy….” (Los Angeles Times, Oct. 11, 1990).

Program notes:

’The origin of music is in the very remote past. It was born of equal measurement and rooted in the Grand Unity. The Grand Unity gave birth to the Counterparts (heaven and earth). The Counterparts gave birth to yin and yang transformed and stratified into higher and lower levels. These came together and formed regular patterns. Rolling over and about, again and again, they would separate, the come together and then separate. This is called the constancy of heaven; the turning wheel of heaven and earth coming to an end begins again, reaching its ultimate source. All things are part of this process.’

– Spring & Autumn Annals of Mr. Lu (ca. 239 B.C.)

’Nov. 3 While U.S. scientists frantically scratched away at the drawing board, the U.S.S.R. placed its second satellite in orbit. Sputnik 2, several times larger than its predecessor, carried the first living creature, a dog named Laika, into space. Wired from snout to paw with electronic sensors, Laika fed Soviet scientists on the ground valuable data on the biological effects of takeoff and weightlessness. The animal’s oxygen supply gave out in 10 days, as planned, and Laika became the first living thing to die in space.’

– The People’s Almanac

Duration: 21’. For advanced players.

Additional information