Reena Esmail’s The Light is the Same

OVERVIEW

Religions are many 
But God is one 
The lamps may be different 
But the Light is the same 
 
“Like many people, I spent the last half of 2016 trying to make sense of what was happening in our country and in our world. In my search for texts for my oratorio, This Love Between Us, which I was writing concurrently, I came across these wise words from the 13th century Sufi mystic poet, Rumi. He states so beautifully that, even if our methods for searching for meaning and happiness look very different, the things we seek are so similar.” 
 
Esmail’s piece, The Light is the Same, uses two Hindustani raags: Vachaspati and Yaman. The bhav, the aesthetic of these raags, are vastly different. Vachaspati is dark, brooding, complex and dense. Yaman is light and innocent. And yet, practically speaking, only one note is different between them. The melodies they generate and the way they move makes them feel worlds apart, and yet their notes are almost exactly the same. The piece begins in Vachaspati, in desolate, spare melodic lines. Slowly, as Yaman peeks through the dense harmonies, the two raags begin to weave together into a seamless composite. 

PERFORMERS

Aalia Hanif flute 
Natalie Johnson oboe 
Amy Hur clarinet 
Nina Laube bassoon 
Asuncion Martínez horn

SPONSORS

The Civic Fellowship Program is generously sponsored by The Julian Family Foundation.  
 
The Civic Orchestra Chamber Series is generously sponsored by Judy and Scott McCue, Neil and Karen Kawashima and other donors through the Civic Orchestra Chamber Access Fund. 

ABOUT

This work was featured on a chamber concert called “Between Here and There” curated by the 2023/24 Civic Fellows as part of their artistic planning curriculum. The work was then recorded on stage in Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center.