Marco Buongiorno Nardelli
Tzolk'in
for six marimbas
Program notes
Tzolk'in is the name of the version of the 260-day Mesoamerican calendar which was used by the Maya civilization, and it is regarded as being the oldest and most important of the calendar systems attested in the region. The Tzolk'in calendar ("Tzolk'in" means "count of days") combines a cycle of twenty named days with another cycle of thirteen numbers to produce 260 unique days. The numbers 20 and 13 were important numbers for the Maya: twenty was the basis of the Maya counting system, taken from the number of human fingers and toes. Thirteen symbolized the number of levels in the Upperworld where the gods lived.
This composition for three marimbas exploits the interlocking structure of the Tzolk'in calendar, where 20 melodic units are superimposed to 13 different meter regions, creating a cycle where pitch and rhythmic structures follow each other for 260 four-beat units for a total duration of 13 min.
Unit names are loosely inspired by the Maya day names:
1) The body of the world
2) The breadth of the wind
3) Darkness
4) Harvest dance
5) The serpent
6) The sleep
7) The hunt
8) Venus at sunset
9) Water jade
10) Underground
11) The ape and the architect
12) Grass
13) The growth of man
14) The sun at night
15) The bird on the moon
16) Insects
17) The power of the earth
18) Jade knife
19) Rain
20) The sun god
Video projection: graphical art on original digital photographs of Chichen Itza (MBN, 2006). Sample images: "The growth of man", "The bird on the moon"
Score can be downloaded here
MIDI rendition of selected units can be listened to here (1,4,6,7,9,10,11,13,14,15,17,18,20)
NEWS!!!! Tzolk'in has received Honorable Mention in the Second Annual Louisiana State University Percussion Society's Percussion Ensemble Composition Contest!
© 2008 Marco Buongiorno Nardelli
