CAUCASIAN EPODE

Caucasian Epode was commissed by the Nederlands Instituut voor Blaasmuziek (the Dutch Institute for Wind Band Music).

It was inspired by folk music from the Caucasus region, particularly Armenia. Alexander Comitas first came across this music in the 1980s and since then the composer has written numerous works which exhibit the influence of this discovery, such as the three Rapsodias Armenias for band; the cantata La boda de la Luna y el Sol for soloists, choir and symphonic orchestra; and a chamber opera called De Russenoorlog about the Georgian uprising on the Dutch island of Texal at the end of the Second World War.

The three Rapsodias Armenias only feature existing folk melodies. Meanwhile in Caucasian Epode the composer invents a melody, although the significant influence of Armenian folk music can still be heard.

The piece is structured in sonata form: an exposition of the themes, then a development of these themes, followed by a recapitulation of the exposition, preceded by a slow introduction. In this introduction, fragments of the theme alternate loudly (forte) with fragments played softly (piano). The soft melody (piano) will appear later in the allegro as a "sung theme". Toward the end of the piece, this theme appears in counterpoint to one of the themes in the allegro.