Roda
A four-movement work for six berimbaus, the Brazilian musical bow of capoeira.
Premiere — Arcomusical · Kansas State University · 2017-10-09
A four-movement work for berimbau sextet. The berimbau is the single-string Brazilian musical bow used in capoeira. The four movements are “Turning,” “Singing,” “Dreaming,” and “Spinning.” I wrote it on a Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning Grant for Projeto Arcomusical, who premiered it at Kansas State University in 2017. It’s been performed about a dozen times.
It’s recorded on Arcomusical’s album Spinning in the Wheel (National Sawdust Tracks, March 2019), where it’s the opening track and the “wheel” the title points to — roda is Portuguese for wheel, and also the circle capoeira is played in. It’s the only piece on the album not written by a member of the ensemble. I Care If You Listen called it “the star attraction of the album.”
Elliot Cole's four-movement Roda is the star attraction of this album and the 'wheel' of the title. Kathleen McGowan , I Care If You Listen , 2019-07-09
Performances
12 performances since 2017
- 2018-04-29 Arcomusical Constellation, Chicago, IL
- 2018-03-25 Arcomusical Latin is America, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
- 2018-03-17 Arcomusical One Tree Many Branches, Lutheran Church of the Ascension, Northfield IL
- 2017-12-01 Arcomusical DeKalb Public Library, DeKalb, IL
- 2017-11-06 Arcomusical Cornish School for the Arts, Seattle, WA
- 2017-11-05 Arcomusical Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA
- 2017-11-02 Arcomusical NIU New Music Festival, DeKalb, IL
- 2017-10-29 Arcomusical Lakeside Arts, Crystal, IL
- 2017-10-24 Arcomusical Athena Awards, DeKalb, IL
- 2017-10-23 Arcomusical Chamber Music on the Fox, Elgin, IL
- 2017-10-10 Arcomusical Kansas State University
- 2017-10-09 Arcomusical Kansas State University