Dances of Hill Tribe for Two Violin and Invisible Drums
Dances of a Hill Tribe for two violins and invisible drums is an original composition by Chaipruck Mekara in which the composer systematically derives both rhythmic and pitch material from extra-musical sources rooted in personal and cultural experience. The work integrates non-Western elements — specifically the rhythmic language of the Maew (Mong) hill tribe dance tradition — with Western compositional techniques, resulting in a three-section structure depicting two dancers accompanied throughout by invisible drums.
The primary rhythmic material originates from a Mong tribal drum pattern that Mekara first encountered as a child at a local temple fair. The composer extracted the first measure of the drum’s ostinato as his foundational raw material, subsequently transforming it by removing an eighth note and renotating it in 7/8 meter — a modification that preserves the asymmetric character of the original while integrating it into a notated Western compositional framework. This rhythmic cell functions as the structural backbone of the entire work, subjected throughout to techniques including alternating arco and pizzicato, harmonics, strumming, glissando, and octave displacement.
The pitch content of the work is derived from a personal cipher. The five principal pitch classes — A, C, B, G, and B♭ — are derived from the names of the composer’s daughter (Angela) and his own name (Chaipruck), using a letter-to-pitch assignment system in which H corresponds to B in the German notation tradition. The pitches A and C are designated as the primary structural pitches, representing the initials of Angela and Chaipruck respectively.
The overall formal structure is tripartite. The first and third sections are characterized by rhythmic energy and forward momentum, while the central section is written in open time, suggesting improvisatory and freely expressive movement. Within the first section, three subsections (A, B, and C) explore the primary material through varied textural and technical means: Section A introduces the ostinato in the second violin against a melodic presentation of the five-note set in the first violin; Section B employs a conversational, imitative texture between the two instruments; Section C presents the material in octave-doubled unison, evoking synchronized movement between the two dancers. A transitional bridge, in which left-hand pizzicato in both voices aligns with the pulse of the invisible drums, connects the first and second sections.
The second section, in open time, features the first violin performing behind the bridge — producing a veiled, distant timbre — while the second violin presents the five-note melodic line in the foreground. The roles are subsequently exchanged, and the section concludes with an octave-displacement passage in the first violin that leads into the final section. A climactic passage near the close of the work distributes the melodic line across four octaves between both players, culminating in a pianissimo portamento from high A to high C in the first violin — a gesture the composer identifies as representing his daughter (Angela) running to him (Chaipruck) at the emotional apex of the dance.
The work concludes with a fading pizzicato of the irregular iso-rhythmic pattern, shared between both violins, dissolving gradually to silence.
