ORUN (2025)

difficulty: medium

duration: ca’ 7’45

instrumentation: percussion septet

ORUN is definitely a vibe and puts an Afro-futuristic spin on the timeless spiritual "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child."

In the first few measures, the main melodic material of the hymn is introduced by the vibraphone, with the shaker and woodblock surrounding it like space particles and stars. The glockenspiel and the vibraphone dance around with that melody for a bit. As the work progresses, the ensemble builds up a sonic world around the hymn [it’s giving c minor] and then BOOM!. We land in a whole nother sonic universe [this one is giving Bb minor! :P].

A percussion break hypes us up for takeoff once again. Following the break, we teleport back into earlier sound worlds for the recapitulation and ride out the feel to our destination.

In Yoruba tradition, ORUN is the spiritual realm, the heavens. This piece is inspired by heavenly travel/existence.