Voyage to Narodnja

Description

Narodnja is a fictional name I created when I started thinking about a musical journey in
an imaginary Slavic-speaking country in the Eastern part of Europe. The name Narodnja
comes from the Proto-Slavic word “narod” (nāròdъ) which can signify either “people”,
“nation” or “folk” in many modern Slavic languages. The suffix -nia/nja is used in order
to denote a place, a Slavic-speaking place where the musical journey ends.

In the first movement “Remembering Narodnja” the protagonist is coming back to the
hometown. This movement depicts the journey and the nostalgic memories of the town
where the protagonist is eager to return. The hero of our tale remembers the moment
when Narodnja had to be left behind. In the “Farewell” section, the manner in which
the instruments exit the scene one by one mirrors, in a way, the memory of the
abandonment of the homeland.
Narodnja shines in dim light when our musical journey leads us, the hero and the
audience, to the town.

In the second movement “Dawn in Narodnja” as the entire town awakens to a new day so
does the protagonist. From the perspective of the window we can see and listen to
Narodnja’s gradual and slow happy awakening. The town is alive: the fair is going to
take place soon.

In the third movement “Narodnja Square” the audience ceases to be mere listeners and is
now taking part in the life of the town. In the first part of the movement we are in the
central square enjoying the dream-like atmosphere and taking part in the town fair and
its amusements. Suddenly, the gypsy ensemble (Romani musicians) in the square’s
corner starts playing and the celebrations are at their climax. We join the people
dancing in the square and it really feels like we have never left.

Voyage to Narodnja is mainly addressed to high-school String Ensembles. I believe this
composition can be a useful medium in engaging students once they are able to connect
music to a narrative.
My intent is to create a composition that teachers may use for didactic purposes in
teaching Music. The style of the composition itself is an example of “program music”.

The purpose is to guide the listener so that he or she may be able to connect the story
(narrative extra-musical part) to the music. It gives the teacher the opportunity to
deepen the concept and provide examples of program music in musical history such as
Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique, Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an
Exhibition.

The composition includes some extras that aim to help the Conductor. It includes a 3rd
Violin part in place of the Viola part. Also, the Double Bass part is suitable for a Cello2
section in case the String Ensemble doesn’t have any Double basses.