Matt Marcinkowski
Mention Cahokia around these parts, and most folks will conjure visions of soft green slopes, walking tours, and perhaps a childhood field trip. But for composer and educator James Lee III, thinking about the historic civilization evokes much more.
The pre-Columbian Native American archeological site, located near present-day Collinsville, Illinois, was an urban metropolis in its time. The settlement covered 6 square miles and was a center of Mississippian culture that may have housed up to 40,000 people at its peak, according to archeologists’ estimates, rivaling contemporary populations of major European cities. It’s this thriving confluence of people and cultures that inspired Lee’s Visions of Cahokia, a new composition written for the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra.
“The idea of many different tribes coming together, almost like a melting pot, was interesting. There were tribes that came from different parts of the country, and continual growth until [the civilization] reached its height. There was a booming agricultural industry, and the large earthworks, of course,” says Lee. “So there’s a kind of structure in the music where I have thinner textures that become increasingly tense as it reaches the height of climax, imitating the large mounds that can be seen even to this day.”
In crafting his compositions, Lee attempts to balance accessibility, technique, and contemporary language, creating pieces listeners can grasp within just a first or second listen. For Visions of Cahokia, the composer says he worked on pacing, dividing the piece into movements dedicated to growth of the Mississipian civilization, Cahokia as a center of religious devotion, and the celebratory exuberance of a powwow.
“I would like [audiences] to focus on the fact that, even back then, people came together with their various differences and cultures to make something really wonderful,” says Lee. “That’s what was happening, at least in the height of [the Mississippian culture].”
Visions of Cahokia will premiere on January 28 and 29 as part of the SLSO’s “Bernstein and Sibelius” program, conducted by Stéphane Denève. “Stéphane, who’s a great, warm person, has been really fun to work with,” says Lee. “I’ve found that to be a great relationship, and I hope to continue it in the upcoming seasons.”
For tickets, visit shop.slso.org.
TAKE A TRIP
“BERNSTEIN AND SIBELIUS” IS A TOUR THROUGH TIME AND CULTURES.
The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra’s “Bernstein and Sibelius,” which will be performed January 28 and 29, takes listeners on a cross-cultural journey. Music director Stéphane Denève will conduct.
The world premiere of James Lee III’s Visions of Cahokia will kick off the program, evoking the growth, culture, and exuberance of the Mississippian civilization as it grew to rival populations in early Paris and London.
Then, Leonard Bernstein’s Serenade, after Plato’s Symposium, a 1954 serenade in five movements inspired by statements on the nature of love from the Greek philosopher’s collection of speeches, will highlight violinist James Ehnes as he and the accompanying orchestra evoke Plato’s drama.
The evening will close with Jean Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2, a work described by the composer as “a confession of the soul” that has become synonymous with the fight for Finnish independence during the early 1900s.
Tickets for “Bernstein and Sibelius” are $15–$93 and available at the Powell Hall box office and online. For more information, visit slso.org.
