Alice Shields

Trumpet and Fixed Audio Media

Composer's Note:

I created "Mioritza" in memory of Rachel Corrie, the 23-year-old American peace activist who on 16 March 2003 was killed by an Israeli forces bulldozer while attempting to defend a Palestinian pharmacist's home from demolition. Many innocent Israelis and innocent Palestinians have been killed during the Israeli occupation; this young American had come there to help in peace-making and defending the innocent. In 2004 trombonist Monique Buzzarte asked me to create a piece for her for trombone and electronic music, so I wrote it in Rachel's honor. I've just created this new version for trumpet.
I took the title "Mioritza" from a weirdly beautiful traditional Romanian poem of that name, which means something like "the clairvoyant lamb." The piece begins in a slow sarabande rhythm in a beat of three, with the emphasis on the second beat. Towards the middle of the piece the trumpet player sings into their instrument along with a recorded voice a fragment of an Indian melody in Sanskrit: "Vittala, vittala, vittala, vittala: Deva vittala, Deva vittala..." meaning "glory to God." My composition for trumpet and fixed audio, and the separate poem I wrote to her memory which is printed in the score and can be shared with the audience if desired, are my reactions to Rachel's martyrdom in the cause of peace.