Cinco Puntos Cardinales is a contemporary dance work created and choreographed by Yvonne Von Mollendorff for Danza Contemporanea of Lima, Perú. The five core music pieces in the suite (solo violin or male chorus) were composed in July, 2002 and recorded shortly afterwards. Supplemental music was added during the rehearsal process, and the production was staged in Lima in September of 2002.

« In part compositions for violin solo, a men’s chorus, mixed instrumental ensemble and soundscapes from South America, the unifying principle of this eclectic collection is its design as an accompaniment and essential text to a modern dance work by the Lima Peru dance company, Danza Contemporanea.

The work’s title may be translated as « Five Cardinal Points » and its choreographer Yvonne von Mollendorff suggests a metaphysical reading: the four directions of the compass plus the fifth – « the self, the observer. » The work’s sections range widely in kind from three austere solo violin pieces eloquently performed by Mark Fewer, to the rhythmic sound of palm fronds in Guyana, to the lush male sounds of the Peruvian Coro in Limine. Composer Daniel Janke deftly merges international and his own Canadian musical influences and creates a work that verges on the cinematic in scope. The variety of performing ensembles and where they were recorded geographically reminds one of Janke’s more recent career as a film writer, composer and director.

Adding to the kaleidoscope of aesthetics and genres is a track recorded with some of Toronto’s top improvisers, as well as a West African tinged track Miawezo. The latter composition alludes to Janke’s studies of the kora (West African harp-lute) in the 1970s and ‘80s with some of its leading hereditary Jali musicians.

Works/Tracks

1. Aparecer

2. o curas hominum

3. Interlude

4. Grand Waltz

5. Reacción

6. Miawezo

7. Hecho

8. Para Leer En Forma Interrogativa

9. Epilogue

PERFORMERS
Mark Fewer, violin
Coro In Limine

REVIEWS
Long devoted to incorporating world music influences in his compositions, Daniel Janke continues to boldly bridge parts of our globe through the music on this album. » – Andrew Timar, The Whole Note