Bismillah meets the Creator in Springtime is co-created by Cassandra Miller and Silvia Tarozzi. It is a concerto of sorts, the duo not above but inside the ensemble, carried as if on a full river – improvising, automatic-singing, mimicking. It is a collage which speaks to the history of our playful and joyful working methods, with much music exchanged, overlapped and transformed over years of friendship.

 

More specifically, it is made from a mixture of sources including a 1993 recording of Bismillah Khan performing the raag Malkauns (mimicked and transcribed for material); The Creator has a Master Plan of Pharoah Sanders (the form of the piece, the role of the ‘band’, improvisations made while listening to this music, and the wish for peace and happiness through all the land); some Bach for good measure. The Creator’ (as the numerological archetype of the number 22) also accompanied much of our process and provided important keys to understanding our musical choices. An even number, symmetrical and full of meaning, it represents the relationship between the two composer-performers—as we left our conventional roles and led each other into our own expressive universes. And why springtime? It’s the time when rivers are most full, welcoming us (and you dear listener) to be carried on something greater than ourselves (through a-a-a-a-all the land).

 

The work is made possible by a Research & Creation grant from the Canada Council for the Arts, and is dedicated to Gianna and Vanessa, for their long-welcoming collaboration with each other and with the angels.