Anahita

From Wind Repertory Project
Roshanne Etezady

Roshanne Etezady


General Info

Year: 2005
Duration: c. 15:05
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Murphy Music Press
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $325.00;   |   Score Only (print) - $65.00


Movements

1. The Flight of Night - 4:05
2. Night Mares - 3:35
3. Sleep and Repose/The Coming of Light - 6:45


Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
English Horn
Bassoon I-II
Contrabassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III-IV
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II
Bass Trombone
Euphonium I-II
Tuba I-II
Harp
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III, including:

  • Bass Drum
  • Brake Drum
  • Cabasa
  • Crotales
  • Glockenspiel
  • Marimba
  • Rainstick
  • Snare Drum
  • Suspended Cymbal
  • Tambourine
  • Tam-tam
  • Tom-toms (high and medium)
  • Triangle
  • Vibraphone
  • Vibra-slap


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

Anahita is the Old Persian form of the name of an Iranian goddess and appears in complete and earlier form as Aredvi Sura Anahita, the Avestan language name of an Indo-Iranian cosmological figure venerated as the divinity of 'the Waters' (Aban) and hence associated with fertility, healing and wisdom.

- Program Note from Wikipedia


In the Assembly Chamber of the State Capitol Building in Albany, New York, there are two murals that were completed in 1878 by the New England painter William Morris Hunt. These works are enormous -- each approaching 18 feet in length -- and are considered the culminating works of the artist’s career.

One of these murals, The Flight of Night, depicts the Zoroastrian Goddess of the Night, Anahita, driving her chariot westward, fleeing from the rising sun. However, if you travel to Albany today, you won’t see The Flight of Night. Two years after Hunt completed the giant murals (and only one year after his death), the ceiling in the Assembly Chamber began to leak. By 1882, The Flight of Night had already been damaged, and by 1888, the vaulted ceiling in the Assembly Chamber had to be condemned. A “false” ceiling was erected, completely obscuring Hunt’s murals, and today, most of The Flight of Night has been destroyed by the elements. Only the lowest inches of the original painting are still visible.

Anahita draws inspiration from photographs of Hunt’s masterpiece before its decay as well as from the Persian poem that inspired Hunt originally. The first movement, The Flight of Night, is characterized by dramatic, aggressive gestures that are meant to evoke the terrifying beauty of the goddess herself. Movement two, Night Mares, is a scherzo-like movement that refers to the three monstrous horses that pull the chariot across the sky. In the final movement, Sleep and Repose/The Coming of Light, we hear the gentler side of the night, with a tender lullaby that ends with trumpets heralding the dawn.

What follows is the translated Persian poem that Colonel Leavitt Hunt sent to his brother, William Morris Hunt.

Anahita

Enthroned upon her car of light, the moon
Is circling down the lofty heights of Heaven;
Her well-trained courses wedge the blindest depths
With fearful plunge, yet heed the steady hand
That guides their lonely way. So swift her course,
So bright her smile, she seems on silver wings.
O’er-reaching space, to glide the airy main;
Behind, far-flowing, spreads her deep blue veil,
Inwrought with stars that shimmer in its wave.
Before the car, an owl, gloom sighted, flaps
His weary way; with melancholy hoot
Dispelling spectral shades that flee
With bat-like rush, affrighted, back
Within the blackest nooks of caverned Night.
Still Hours of darkness wend around the car,
By raven tresses half concealed; but one,
With fairer locks, seems lingering back for Day.
Yet all with even measured footsteps mark
Her onward course. And floating in her train
Repose lies nestled on the breast of Sleep,
While soft Desires enclasp the waist of Dreams,
And light-winged Fancies flit around in troops.

- Program Note by composer


When dealing with the topic of women’s equality, it is impossible not to recognize the impact sexual violence and physical abuse play in keeping women “in their sphere.” This type of violence against women is as old as the patriarchy and yet even today when women speak out about it, they are often vilified. They are the problem, not those who abuse them. Knowing that any mention of sexual abuse would be difficult, this piece needed to allow us to live in that emotional space. Etezady’s Anahita takes the listener on the journey through aggression into lament and finally into calm tenderness. It takes the listener to a place of rest, peace, and hope.

- Program Note by Courtney Snyder for University of Michigan Concert Band concert program, 8 December 2021


Media


State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • Arkansas State University (Jonesboro, Ark.) Wind Ensemble (Nicholas Balla, conductor) – 20 February 2024
  • New England Conservatory (Boston, MA.) Wind Ensemble (Mary Schneider, conductor) - 15 February 2024
  • University of Colorado Boulder Wind Symphony (Donald J. McKinney, conductor) - 21 September 2023
  • South Dakota State University (Brookings) Wind Symphony (Jacob Wallace, conductor) - 10 February 2023
  • The Ohio State University (Columbus) Wind Symphony (Russell C. Mikkelson, conductor) - 4 October 2022
  • Penn State University (State College) Symphonic Wind Ensemble (Tonya Mitchell-Spradlin, conductor) -- 26 April 2022
  • University of Minnesota (Minneapolis) Wind Ensemble (Emily Threinen, conductor) -- 6 April 2022
  • University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) Concert Band (Courtney Snyder, conductor) – 8 December 2021
  • University of South Florida (Tampa) Wind Ensemble (Matthew McCutcheon, conductor) - 9 April 2021
  • University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) Concert Band (Courtney Snyder, conductor) – 17 March 2020
  • University of Cincinnati (Ohio) College-Conservatory of Music Wind Ensemble (Thomas Gamboa, conductor) – 19 February 2020
  • Florida State University (Tallahassee) Wind Ensemble (Patrick Dunnigan, conductor) – 7 January 2020
  • University of Oklahoma (Norman) Symphony Band (Michael E. Hancock, conductor) – 25 November 2019
  • University of Kansas (Lawrence) Wind Ensemble (Bethany Amundson, conductor) – 14 November 2019
  • Shenandoah Conservatory Wind Ensemble (Winchester, Va.) (Timothy J. Robblee, conductor) – 9 November 2019
  • University of Texas (Austin) Symphony Band (Tiffany Galus, conductor) – 30 October 2019
  • The College of New Jersey (Ewing) Wind Ensemble (Eric Laprade, conductor) – 18 October 2019
  • Indiana University (Bloomington) Wind Ensemble (Benjamin Alaniz, conductor) – 24 September 2019
  • Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.) Symphonic Band (Shawn Vondran, conductor) – 15 March 2019
  • CBDNA Small Band Programs Intercollegiate Band (Tempe, Ariz.) (Rodney Dorsey, conductor) – 23 February 2019 (CBDNA 2019 National Conference, Tempe, Ariz.)
  • University of Toronto (Ont., Can.) Wind Ensemble (Gillian MacKay, conductor) – 2 February 2019
  • University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) Symphony Band (Michael Haithcock, conductor) - 30 September 2005 *Premiere Performance*


Works for Winds by This Composer


Resources