Ivan Božičević: Rig Veda X. 129

Silvija Anić, piano
Ivana Bandalo Benzon, bass clarinet and clarinet
Vid Veljak, cello

S/UMAS Ensemble
Toska Lumezi, Nikolina Kapitanović, flutes; Igor Ivanović, clarinet; Marko Gerbus, soprano saxophone; Vedran Momčilović, alto saxophone; Deni Pjanić, tenor saxophone; Erna Čizmić Rebić, baritone saxophone; Silvija Anić, piano
Ivan Božičević, fixed audio and video

The cyclical form of the composition follows the dramatic arc inherent in the text of Hymn 129 from the tenth mandala of the Rig Veda, better known as the Hymn of Creation (Nāsadīya Sūkta). After a brief opening movement for solo piano, the music of the second movement interprets verses 1–3, which describe the unknowable state before creation and the very drama of the universe coming into being. A piano intermezzo then prepares the listener for two extended, virtuosic solo movements (for bass clarinet in verse 4 and for cello in verse 5), which form the emotional core of the work. The second (Indian) piano intermezzo offers a moment of respite before a strikingly dramatic climactic movement (verse 6); in this verse appears a sentence which, given the religious nature of the text, is almost shocking: even the gods themselves may not know how creation came into being, as they appeared later, as its consequence. The tension is resolved in the lyrical final movement (verse 7), in which the poet continues to ask questions, arriving at the final “point”: that perhaps not even the One who watches from the highest heaven knows how creation truly occurred.