Tslila

"Most poets, like divers in Sharm el-Sheikh and other places, risk their lives listening carefully to the essence of words."- Dalia RavikovitchThe piece creates a sonic space which explores the tension between static plains and short, contrasting, energetic gestures. This juxtaposition gradually unfolds in a long process of increasing intensity which is interwoven with shorter self-contained episodes.Tslila, Hebrew for "diving", is used here as a metaphor for the expanding and contracting movement of the musical space in the piece. If the word is broken it also reads "the note A" (Tslil La), which is heard throughout the entire work almost, as a kind of drone. The accompanying quote is from a memoriam by the Israeli poet and peace activist Dalia Ravikovitch to the poet David Avidan.Tslila was commissioned by the Israeli Chamber Project and was originally written for an ensemble of five players. This version for fourteen players was written for the Cornell Festival Chamber Orchestra.