Kokopeli by K. Hoover
Surabhi V.
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Katherine Hoover shared her inspiration for her piece, Kokopeli : It came from Kokopeli, a great mahu, who was also a flute player. As he led the migrations of the Hopi tribe through the Southwest, the sound of his flute echoed through the great canyons and cliffs, and Hoover tried to capture this sense of spaciousness in her composition. While this piece had the rhythms, notes, and dynamics provided, Hoover allowed the performer to play this piece with great freedom (these past lines were stated in Hoover's description of her piece, rephrased). For me, I took this freedom to portray my own interpretation of Kokopeli as his vibrant flute sounds played through the lands. I played slow at suspenseful moments, pursuing fast, almost an angry vibrato at dramatic parts of the piece. Pausing before a climax to create an unknown thought of what's to come next for the audience, in contrast to the large range of notes, allowing for a thrilling experience of varying emotions. I like to think of this piece as "unexpected." Native American pieces are very unique from classical and/or modern flute pieces. They have a perfect mix of notes that create very distinct sounds from what we traditionally hear. To fit this uniqueness, I envisioned myself as Kokopeli, a heroic Native American leader playing the flute as he was leading his tribe in a migration. I asked myself, "How would I feel in this moment (of the piece)? How would I react?" From there, I played with the freedom that Hoover provided, being Kokopeli myself.
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Music is more than just notes. Expressing my ideas has often been difficult for me to put into words, so I take my original idea and express it by my own music. When I no longer know how to say what I wish to speak, I play, and people understand.
