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Le témoignage des lumières (Score and Parts): Percussion Ensemble

$83.00 USD
$83.00 USD
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Le témoignage des lumières (Score and Parts) Cover Image
Le témoignage des lumières (Score and Parts): Percussion Ensemble

Le témoignage des lumières (Score and Parts): Percussion Ensemble

By George Lewis

Level: Advanced

Item: 98-EP68794
$83.00
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Description

Commissioned by Tanglewood Music Center and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

With special thanks to George Steel, and a farewell present to Ellen Highstein



In 2004 I visited Gorée Island, near Dakar, Senegal. Over a period of nearly four hundred years, Gorée was the largest slave-trading center on the African coast. Both the deplorable slave quarters and the elegant mansions of the traders are on view there today, as well as a museum with artifacts of the period-chains, shackles, and original documents. Here, I learned that the French word négrier, which explicitly references blackness, denoted both the traders and the vessels they used to transport their cargo of African humans from Gorée's famed "point of no return"-quite often to Nantes in Bordeaux, a principal slave trading stopover from the time of Louis XV to the rule of Napoleon.



The sound of Le témoignage des lumières (The Testimony of Lights) work situates itself within the classic American trope of depiction, among such forebears as Charles Ives, Amy Beach, Duke Ellington, Elliott Carter, and Blind Tom. From the opening moments, listeners find themselves virtually on board a négrier, where we hear not only the sonic testimony of the ship, but also the appalling violence and objectification of human beings that financially supported the Age of Enlightenment--in French, Le siècle des Lumières, the century of lights.



Confronting this staggering moral contradiction in music and scholarship is part of my exploration of what decolonization might sound like, as classical music develops an expanded notion of its history and identity, a new "we" that could be the field's greatest promise.



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Additional Details
Series: Edition Peters
Publisher: Edition Peters
Page Count: 68
ISBN10: 0-57702-497-4
ISBN13: 979-0-57702-497-4
UPC: 0
SKU: 98-EP68794

More about this title

About the Composer: George Lewis

George Lewis is a composer, bandleader, and scholar whose work spans contemporary classical music, jazz, and experimental improvisation. His compositions often engage with historical narratives and cultural memory, examining how sound can illuminate social and political truths. Lewis has received commissions from major institutions including Tanglewood Music Center and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and his work has been performed internationally by ensembles and soloists at the highest level.

Why we love this

This work transforms percussion ensemble into a vehicle for historical testimony and moral reckoning. Lewis uses the full sonoric range of the ensemble to evoke the horrifying reality of the slave trade while interrogating the philosophical contradictions of the Age of Enlightenment, making it a piece that challenges ensembles to engage with music's capacity to confront difficult truths.

What to expect

Immersive and unsettling. The percussion writing creates a disorienting sonic environment that shifts between mechanical precision and violent outbursts, pulling the listener into a space where beauty and horror coexist. The work refuses comfort, instead confronting the listener with the moral contradiction at its core.

Who it's for

Advanced percussion ensembles ready to tackle a large-scale contemporary work with substantial technical and expressive demands. This piece is designed for ensembles that value historical depth and are prepared to engage with repertoire that uses sound to examine difficult subjects.

How to get the most out of it

  • Coordinate the ensemble's opening textures with particular attention to the sonic depiction of the ship; let the percussion articulation create a visceral, immersive environment rather than decorative accompaniment to a narrative.
  • Study the historical and cultural context before rehearsals begin so performers understand the weight of what they're communicating; this knowledge shapes interpretive choices and ensemble commitment.
  • Balance the work's moments of violence and dissonance with its quieter passages; dynamic control and textural clarity are essential to the piece's emotional and intellectual impact.

How to use it

Present this as a centerpiece of a concert devoted to contemporary works that engage with historical or social themes. It functions best in a context where audiences expect challenging, substantive repertoire and where the ensemble can offer program notes and context that help listeners understand the work's purpose.

Skills your students will build

  • Coordinating complex multi-part percussion textures with precise ensemble balance
  • Interpreting contemporary notation and extended percussion techniques
  • Sustaining musical focus and collective energy through substantial formal structures
  • Communicating historical and philosophical content through instrumental sound

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