Seafarer Press | Elizabeth Alexander, composer

Maji
orchestra (2222,2421,timp,3 perc,piano,strings)

maji  \mah'-jee\ n. [Swahili] water

Maji takes its name and inspiration from the Swahili word for water; its Arabic root "ma " means not only "water," but also "luster or splendor," often in reference to a diamond.  In the words of the composer: "This word captured my imagination at once: there, in two short syllables, was a word which held both the beauty of water, and the suggestion that it is as precious as a jewel."

True to its etymological root, Maji opens with sparkle, but — mirroring its fluid namesake — this bright beginning soon takes a more winding path.  Each musical idea flows into the next naturally but unpredictably:  picture a small creek in which water gurgles and bubbles, creates swirling eddies, shimmers from within its still surface, widens into a slow deep pool, and then suddenly rushes into a narrow channel.  This image of flowing, continuous movement is Maji's guiding principle; indeed, whenever musical themes make reappearances — just as in Heraclitus' ever-changing river — they are never the same twice.