Las Sombras de los apus

Identity has always been at the center of Gabriela Lena Frank’s music. Born to a mother of mixed Peruvian/Chinese ancestry and a father of Lithuanian/Jewish descent, Frank explores her multicultural heritage most ardently through her compositions. As a formative influence, she cites the exposure during her student years to the music of Ginastera, Bartók, and other composers who utilized folk elements in their work. Not unlike Matthew Burtner, Frank draws motivation from her ability to connect music to the larger concerns of humanity; she calls herself “a musical anthropologist” in which poetry, mythology, and native musical traditions coalesce. The narrative component is very important, as one can gather by even the most peremptory glance at her works list: Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout; Cuatro Canciones Andinas; and Ríos Profundos.
Clearly, Frank’s travels in the Peruvian Andes were also extremely significant for her subsequent work. For Las Sombras de los Apus (Shadows of the Apus), written in 1998 for cello quartet, she drew on her experiences in the rugged and inspiring terrain of the Andes. The piece pulls together not only the spirituality but the awesome geology of that place:

According to Quechua mythology, each of the Andean mountain peaks is inhabited by a minor divinity known as the apu. Temperamental in nature, apu is easily irritated by negligent villagers who trespass through the rugged naturaleza without offering up a prayer or leaving a simple gift of food. At certain times, mist (neblina) warns the careless travelers that the apu is about to unleash a huayco, or avalanche. Such huaycos wreak havoc, uprooting boulders and ancient tress, leaving a stench of sulfur in the zigzagging rips through woodland, field and pueblo. The groans (gruñidos) and grindings (machacas) of the deepest geological plates can be heard across the entire span of the “eternal hills” during such an onslaught. In the aftermath, a stunning silence reigns.

(c) Jason Stell