Now playing: Carlos Simon: "Songs of Separation" Movement 3 (Dance) | National Symphony Orchestra by The Kennedy Center. Paused, Muted
Carlos Simon: "Songs of Separation" Movement 3 (Dance) | National Symphony Orchestra
Gianandrea Noseda leads the National Symphony Orchestra in the world premiere of Carlos Simon's "Songs of Separation," featuring Grammy-Award-winning J'Nai Bridges.
Performed live in the Kennedy Center's Concert Hall on April 23, 2023:
- Dance, when you’re broken.
- Dance, if you’re torn.
- Dance in the middle of the fighting.
- Dance in your blood.
- Dance, when you’re perfectly free.
- We all, as humans, experience separation in a variety of forms. Whether it be through the death of a loved one, a break-up, a divorce or a permanent relocation from family and friends, a parting of ways is a part of life for us all.
- To illustrate this musically, I chose to use the timeless words of the 13th century Persian poet, Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī to convey this inevitable human experience.
- Each of the four movements depict moments of grief, sorrow as well hope and encouragement. Rūmī reminds us through his words that “What hurts you, also blesses you.”
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