Between Suns, each movement represents a distinct solar system—an imagined space where rhythm is gravity and the West African drums serve as both traveler and guide. The solo drums and orchestra orbit a central pulse—the “sun”—with shifting gravitational forces shaping their interactions. The work explores how rhythm constructs identity, memory, and interconnection across time and space. Between Suns draws connections between musical vocabularies from traditions found in Ghana, Togo, Mali, Morocco and Senegal, woven together with instrumentation, timbres, and harmonies rooted in Western European classical music. Each of these African countries is home to multiple ethnic groups whose histories and musical practices extend across national borders. Among them are the Fontomfrom drumming traditions of the Akan people—particularly the Asante and Fante of Ghana—used in royal ceremonies and public processions; the melodic and rhythmic forms of the Dagomba from Northern Ghana; the complex polyrhythms of the Ewe from Ghana and Togo; the modal structures of Berber (Amazigh) music from Morocco; and the melodic phrasing of the Mandé peoples of Mali. While each group speaks its own language and maintains distinct cultural practices, they often share rhythmic structures and melodic approaches—creating an interconnected musical ecosystem. At times, the way a specific rhythmic phrase is emphasized or articulated can serve as a gateway into identifying which group of people the phrase originates from—a subtle yet powerful marker of cultural identity. In Between Suns, these rhythmic signatures are honored not only as musical ideas, but as living expressions of memory, place, and lineage.
The closest point to the sun—the moment of gravitational momentum. This movement opens with relentless drive, establishing a radiant pulse that draws all musical bodies inward. The West African drums lead with bold clarity, invoking the birth of motion and the first dance of gravitational pull. Orchestral lines curve and tilt around the drums, creating spirals of energetic orbit.
In this movement, multiple gravitational forces interact—pulling and resisting, syncing and slipping. Inspired by the oceanic polyrhythmic logic of tides, this system surges with waves of groove and tension. Drum patterns stretch and fold across orchestral textures, echoing the ebb and flow of cosmic tides. Interlocking lines give way to sudden stillness, like a tide momentarily held at bay.
In this system full of echoes, orbits stretch wide — not irregular, but elongated and distant. The pulse remains steady, yet the music unfolds with a sense of weightless delay and gravitational hesitation. The drums explore phrasing at the edge of time, circling the sun with deliberate, expressive drag, while the orchestra pulses in steady rotation. This movement is about space — the space between gestures, between voices, and the quiet gravity that pulls them together.
Time itself expands here. A slow, radiant atmosphere envelopes this system, as rhythm becomes memory and decay. The drums whisper rather than declare—each strike suspended in long, weightless gestures. Strings shimmer like cosmic dust, while sustained harmonies stretch perception. This is the stillness between pulses, the breath between worlds.
All paths align. Pulses from each solar system return, refracted but familiar, as if every orbit has been leading to this singular gravitational moment. The drums summon forces fusing with orchestral propulsion in a celebration of unity and forward momentum. Rhythmic cycles tighten and accelerate, culminating in a fiery convergence where suns collide and a new system is born.
Program notes by Derrick Skye