Momo (Bees) - from "Katcina Dances"

("Momo" is 0:08-1:46)

Program Note: "The Katcina Dances [are] named after mythical spirits originating from the Hopi tribe in New Mexico, where Ballard lived most of his life. They are spirits that the Hopi believe manifest themselves for six months here on Earth to give guidance. 

Ballard initially started visiting the Hopi reservation while doing research for his first ballet composition Koshare. He witnessed the ceremonial Katcina dances first hand on tribal grounds which inspired the project. 

Ballard’s cultural anthropological ambitions [were] to capture the essence of tribe’s folklore, without disturbing their religious significance. The world premiere was on July 28th, 1970 in Santa Fe, New Mexico featuring cellist James Holoshovsky and Ruth Doré." - Louis Ballard

Free Tonality: If we had to give “Momo” a tonic pitch, it would be D. If asked "D Major or D Minor?", we might want to say "D Minor" but... Louis Ballard has written many chromatic pitches into the music! These notes fall outside the D Minor scale. For this reason, we could propose that the piece uses "Free Tonality."