Rising – Ratniece, horo horo hata hata
Santa Ratniece – horo horo hata hata
Sunrise, Thursday March 26
Was I asleep?
We reach way back this morning -–to The Crossing of 2013. Jeff* was still with us.
That summer we were fortunate enough to give the U.S. premieres of three works of Santa Ratniece (thanks Eriks Esenvalds for introducing us to your countryperson). Our favorite, horo horo hata hata, begins as the fog over a lake, early morning - hard to make out anything with clarity, but owls are in there – and birds, deer, and more – and they're alive. We love singing this piece because Santa somehow miraculously figured out how to notate that! A desolate landscape, the foreground is dense and evolving – sounds of the natural world – while hints of functional harmony move slowly underneath, emerging and disappearing again into the haze. The music tugs at our memories, drawing us into the gravity of our inner world.
The text is a fractured Ainu prayer reminding us of the distance we are from that natural world, reminding us of our beautiful, fragile ecosystems – the frail balances by which we live. Santa captures this wonder and melancholy through the length of her immersive landscapes; it is only halfway through minute 7 that a song emerges out of the mist and the forest cacophony – a song that, surprisingly, soon disintegrates upwardly, to hover over us.
There is much hovering in horo horo hata hata – its evolution is nearly imperceptible, yet always reaching toward a place in our memory, always inviting our ears and minds to wander in its extraordinary colors. Yet, its conclusion appears suddenly, as if stepping from behind a tree – a deer's call; the flight of its soul has reached the highest mountain peaks in its flight to the heavens. A blaze. And then, gone.
We are awake.
Oh, yes, we are.
- The Whole Team @ The Crossing
*Jeff, our co-founder, joined the deer in April 2014
horo horo hata hata
music by Santa Ratniece
text from Ainu prayers, compiled the composer
recorded June 23, 2013 at the Icebox Project Space at CraneArts
audio by Paul Vazquez of Digital Mission Audio Services
video art by Dan Cole
* * *
horo horo horo horo
hata hata hata hata
rai hene ya Was I dead?
mokor hene ya Was I asleep?
a-e-kon ramuhu My mind
shitne kane was clouded
tanak kane and dazed.
tekkup e-ush kusu Winged creature that you are,
rik peka you travel
kotan enka peka high in the skies,
e-apkash kusu high over the land.
rikun kanto Thus your spirit
oro un is now about to
e-yai-ramat-ka return to
hoshipi kusu ne na the Upper Heavens.
Pirkano You have been treated
ainu otta magnificently
a-e-tomte na by the humans.
kamui huchi The Fire Goddess
e-e-kashpaotte na commands it of you.
rikun kanto un You will now ascend
e-rikin kusu ne na the Upper Heavens.
eramuan an Hear this and obey!
A-kor moshir Let your spirits
moshit tapkashi return
echi-ko-yai-ramat-ka atop the summit
oshipi of our native country.
ashir kamui ne May you
echi-oka yakne abide there
pirka na. as newborn gods.
tapan "inau" Take these "inau"
pirka "inau" those lovely "inau"
echi-kor wa and may you
echi-yai-kamui- enhance with them
nere kane your glory
yak pirka na. as deities!
–Ainu prayers