related works
Anaphora : for large symphony orchestra / Alexey Retinsky
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Orchestra
Scoring:
4fl/picc 3ob/eh 3cl 3fg/cfg 6h 4tpt 3trb tb 5perc hp g-e keyb str
Concert voor 2 klavieren : (cembali of piano's), en strijkorkest, 1950 / Alexander Voormolen
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Harpsichord and string orchestra
Scoring:
str(4.4.2.2.1.) 2pf/2cemb-solo
Monumentum pro Caecilia : opus 23, voor klavecimbel en strijkers, 1984 / Leo Samama
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Harpsichord and string orchestra
Scoring:
str cemb-solo
Muziek : voor cembalo (klavier) en strijkorkest, '33, op. 4 / Ary Verhaar
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Harpsichord and string orchestra
Scoring:
pf/cemb str
composition
The contours of the lost : for string orchestra and harpsichord / Alexey Retinsky
Other authors:
Retinsky, Alexey
(Composer)
Description:
The main musical theme of the work is based on a transcription of a song by bird Kaua’i ʻōʻō from the islands of Hawai’i. The Kaua’i ʻōʻō, a black bird with distinctive yellow leg feathers, fell victim to the common culprits of habitat depletion (their homes were replaced by colonizers’ crops like sugarcane), disease, and predation by invasive species.
As a result, in the early 1980s the last female bird disappeared. The male bird was last sighted in 1985, and the last sound recording was made in 1987 by David Boynton, from which the author’s (A.R.) transcription was made. In this recording we hear the singing of a male bird calling for a female, but the female apparently simply no longer exists. He is the last representative of the genus who will not be able to pass on his genome.
Alexey Retinsky