Basawili by Graeme Rosner, commissioned and premiered by Ethan B. Dilley
Basawili was inspired by the book Master of Poisons by Andrea Hairston. The rich world the book describes inspired me to write a piece in which each movement represents a concept or character from its world and also features a quote from the book that represents the concept in some way. I created a soundscape for each concept and then melded them together to create one continuous and free-flowing piece of music. "Basawili" is a word in the fictional language Anawanama which roughly translates to "not the end, more breath to come." I found this to be a beautiful and timely sentiment. The book is overtly a commentary on climate change, but as I compiled the various quotes that go along with each movement, I realized that it contains commentary on a great many areas of social justice.
