Program Note

This piece traces the journey of a song through the embodied memory. The song— “Pyaare darshan dijo ay,” by the 16th century Bhakti saint-poet Meera Bai — was one I enjoyed singing as a child with my late mother Lalitha (1958-2010). Over time, the song faded from my conscious memory. Many years later, I encountered it again through an old tape recording of me and my sibling Anjna eagerly singing along with our mom, when we were probably 4-5 years old. An uncanny feeling arose as I listened, and the song gently haunted me for several months, drawing out forgotten melodies I had composed in my youth. It felt as though the song had somehow lived on within me, and it inspired a process of creative remembering that led to this piece. “The illusion of permanence” felt like the best way to encapsulate the simultaneous sense of loss, continuity, and renewal in the way our bodies remember sound, in the ways sounds resonate with us over time.

While the original piece featured me as a soloist, the process of creating this new arrangement for Brightwork invited me to revisit what this piece means to me today and entrust it to others. While maintaining the episodic nature of the piece, its specific softnesses and intensities, performers are invited to shape their own presence and journey among the gestures and textures.

The Illusion of Permanence (2020) was originally commissioned by the LA Phil as part of the Green Umbrella Series. – Rajna Swaminathan