US Premiere of Amelia Cuni & Werner Durand's Ashtayama - Song of Hours (1997-98) performed at Other Minds 10 at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 2004. To purchase the studio recording of Ashtayama, please visit the Other Minds webstore at www.otherminds.org, http://otherminds.org/shtml/Ashtayama.shtml.

Amelia Cuni, vocals
Werner Durand, electronics
Uli Sigg, projections

first yama: sunrise
second yama: morning
third yama: midday
fourth yama: afternoon
fifth yama: sunset
sixth yama: evening
seventh yama: night
eighth yama: deep night

An audio-visual meditation beautifully pure in its austerity and clarity of purpose. Raga-based Ashtayama embodies an Eastern idea of Time and the power of musical language to illicit emotional responsethe rasa or essence. Cuni, one of the few Western women to have mastered the classical Indian dhrupad style of singing, joins creative forces with electronic composer Werner Durand and lighting and stage designer Uli Sigg in this multi-media phenomenon.

Ashtayama (1997-98), Amelia Cuni, Werner Durand and Uli Sigg
Ashtayama refers to the ancient tradition, inherited from the rituals of the Hindu temples, of dividing the daily cycle into eight time units of three hours each. The musical modes, called rågas, are chosen according to this subdivision, with emotional content (rasa), attributed to each musical mode. The Ashtayama sequence thus embodies the relationship between music and natural cycles, exploring its manifold implications. While relying on such a custom, Werner Durand and I have been trying to move freely within its boundaries and to acknowledge its form as a tool for encouraging creativity. We do not feel bound by these rules, but rather exploit them to be able to better define and express musical ideas. What is most important to me in the choice of this theme is a cyclical and circular flow of Time, which is one of the most striking experiences any listener and practitioner of Indian music can go through. Amelia Cuni

I had been discussing for some time with Amelia my wish to create a piece only for her voice, where the singer plays not only the role of the soloist, but is the sole source of all sounds. I still wanted to stay inside the tradition of dhrupad to a certain extent, on the other hand there is my strong affection for some of the wonderful experimental vocalists like Joan La Barbara, Shelley Hirsch and Fatima Miranda or Sainkho Namchylak a/o., who showed new ways of singing and helped to form my taste in vocal music. We started the work by recording certain condensed sections in several rågas, from which I chose individual tones and shorter or longer phrases and patterns. With three jam-man digital delays and an 8-track digital recorder I then created drones and loops without altering the natural sound of Amelia´s voice, layering and arranging them. Amelia then composed her solo parts and contributed to the arrangements and structure of the pieces.
Werner Durand

Ashtayama-Song of Hours

1. YAMA: sunrise
based on Raag Bhairav
Verses in Sanskrit from Vasuguptas Sivasutra (Kashmiri tantric aphorisms, 8th/9th century)

Awareness is the nature of reality
Limited knowledge is the bondage
Together with the limitations due to maya (the source) and karmic impressions.
The basis of limited knowledge is the Unknown Mother (the alphabet)
The sudden springing up of awareness is Shiva
Being established in awareness, by union with the whole of the Shaktis (energy manifestations), the dualistic universe disappears.
translation: Adriano Clemente

2. YAMA: morning
Ragamala based on: Bhairavi, Todi, Asavari, Bilaval
Text: dhrupad composition from the Mallik family, 19th cent.

You are the origin of creation, formless
Your manifestation is Shakti (energy) endowed with attributes
You have given form to existence with three qualities
You are expanded in heaven and earth
You are air, fire and water
You are the Snake who has taken on its head the burden of the round earth...

3. YAMA: midday
based on Raag Shuddh Kalyan
Text in early Hindi by Kabir (mystic poet, lived in Benares during the 15th century )

I am out in search of my Love,
for want of Him I am always restless
He, my Love, is so near me
but my eyes fail to notice.
Distraught I wander here and there
I do not get my consort anywhere.
If somehow I steady my mind
I feel I have dropped
the Diamond somewhere.
When the shadow was removed from my eye
I saw my Love in the sky.
Says Kabir - My Love resides in my eye!
translation: G.N. Das

4. YAMA: afternoon
based on Raag Bhimpalasi
text: dhrupad composition from the Mallik family

O Shambhu Hara (Shiva), supporter of the Ganges
primordial water of Creation, your mind is like a gem,
you fulfill peoples desires, wish-fulfilling tree, wish-granting cow.
You hold the trident in your hand, you three-eyed one
your consort is the poweful, naked Kali.
You have a blue neck, are covered with ashes,
you pearl garland is studded with gems,
you hold the damaru drum in your hand!

5. YAMA: sunset
based on Raag Marwa

6. YAMA: evening
based on Raag Kedar
Text by Amelia Cuni

Kedarnath! You are the mystic syllable OM,
practicing the repetition of mantras,
I meditate on transcendental Time.
I sing to the Mother of Creation,
manifestation of light and compassion
great goddes Kali, Time manifested.

7. YAMA: night
based on Raag Bageshri
Tarana composed by Pt. Dilip Chandra Vedi
Hanuman Paran by Smt. Manjushri Chatterji

8. YAMA: late night
based on Raag Malkauns
text: dhamar composition by mystic singer Swami Haridaas, 16th cent.

Radha and Krishna began sporting with each other,
They are the effulgence of attraction, resplendent embodiment of desire.
They improvise transcendental Raag-s and are completely absorbed in dance and music.
In those Raag-s there is colourful delight, Radha-Krishna are like foam on this ocean of beauty.
They are the masters of Sri Haridaas: in them subsists delight, they are dipped in the very essence of enjoyment.
translated with Prem Lata Sharma

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