Óoxp’éel ik’il t’aan is based on three poems in contemporary Mayan language read by the author Briceida Cuevas, who has been previously recorded. Briceida is one of the most distinguished living writers in the indigenous literature of the American continent.
I have chosen to explore her readings of her poems in Mayan to expand the phonetic resonances of the Mayan language. The music evolves by bringing to the foreground the emphasis she gives to her imagery by means of the sound of its syllables and unique guttural qualities of the language, which enrich the music rhythmically as well as in timbre.
These poems give structure to the work, introduced by the instruments alone.
The first poem includes tape and instruments and it is linked to the second part by a transition for instruments and live electronics, without tape and so is the second transition after the second poem, which is scored for tape, instruments and live electronics.
The treatment of live electronics is by means of granulators and spectral delays from Max msp, as well as using halaphones in eight different channels.
The last poem has the same scoring as the previous one and the piece ends with instruments and live electronics.
The title of the piece means ‘three poems’ in Mayan.
Hilda Paredes.