Choral Listening Series - Recording #12

Butterfly - Mia Makaroff (performed by Rajaton)

 
About the performers: Rajaton was founded in 1997, and is a six-part ensemble (SSATBB) that performs in both Finnish and English. They have gained renown in the last decade for their original music and creativity in performance. I would like to look at two original songs premiered and championed by this group. These pieces have now worked their way into the choral repertory because of their instant appeal and superb voicing.
 
Mia Makaroff wrote this piece for Rajaton, and it is now easily their most famous piece.
 
This is my favourite piece from Rajaton, and I think the reason I like it is because of the unconventional writing. Makaroff uses a whole set of seemingly random syllables in both the accompaniment and the solo line. On closer inspection though, we can see that these syllables come together to enhance the texture, creating a musical depiction of a butterfly. In particular, I'd like to point out the 2nd soprano and alto part at the beginning: "fu tum" is the written syllable. I think the "f" sound is meant to depict small gusts of wind, and the meandering solo line is meant to be the butterfly fluttering around. This compositional device is called imagery or text painting (text painting is my favourite term of the two; it's such a great descriptor). 
 
The text (also by Mia Makaroff) is beautiful and sad at the same time. If you click on "Show More" in the video description, the full text is there.