Hohonkweta’ka:ionse (2010/22) by Dawn Avery for string quartet in three movements is written in honor of our ancestors. I started writing the first movement of Hohonkweta’ka:ionse, Mohawk word for ancestors, while I was a professor in residence in New Foundland this past winter.  There, I learned about the Beothuk, the original aboriginal peoples of the area who were believed to be extinct. Through existing songs, this belief is now being challenged. Traveling along the coast, their ancestral voices seemed to be heard in the melodic winds, snowbanks, ocean waves and ancient rocks. Inspired to write a piece honoring my ancestors, I decided to employ two specific pitch-set devices, one of a five-note scale (reminiscent of the stereotypical “pentatonic” understanding of Native American melodic content) and the other called “nesting and rotation.”  In the first movement, subtitled len'le:iahle' (they remember), the original row consists of G, Db, Eb, F and C that occur immediately as “nested” harmonies that rotate over a tonic of Db and a melodic pedal tone of high G in the violin.  Especially interested in sonic textures, I ask the quartet to use a variety of bows and bowing techniques, imploring the audience to listen, pay attention and at times become uncomfortable as the ancestors make their voices known.  The second movement, subtitled, tewe:iahle' (We remember), is based on the pivot note Bb which was briefly introduced toward the end of the first movement.  In this movement the musicians are asked to whisper-sing the syllables of the piece's title, which occurs at the “climax” of the composition, emphasizing the important vibrational qualities found in aboriginal languages.  Various compositional techniques are hinted at, inspired by the powerful work of Bartok in his string writing.  The third movement, subtitled, hakwe:kon tewatahonsatats (we all listen), is based on the remaining set of notes from the twelve-tone row. Its short length and vivace tempo is more like a coda propelling us to do what the ancestors have told us.  
 
To request parts dawn@dawnavery.com