for Solo Timpani, Strings and Piano - 15'
Commissioned by and dedicated to Carol Nelson
Premiered 1994
The music of Oktibihha is based on a Chickasaw Snake Dance song. This song is directly quoted at the beginning in the manner of a call-and-response between the piano and timpani. Call-and-response is a very common style found in the traditional music of Chickasaw culture.
Oktibihha follows the Chickasaw story of the creation of a small lake in Tibih Swamp, Oktibbeha County, Mississippi (now known as Greer’s Lake):In the old tribal ways, Chickasaw families would travel out of the city walls as a group to hunt and gather food. One day, a family with two children left to do just that. After camp was set up, the parents left the two children behind while they went to look for food. Soon after the parents left, the earth began to tremble and swallowed up the two children.
When the parents returned, they found that a beautiful and mysterious lake had replaced the campsite. Frantically searching for their children, they heard a noise and noticed two giant water serpents coming at them from across the lake. The two children had been transformed into these water serpents and they chased the parents away. It is the duty of the serpents to forever guard this lake, for it is now a resting place for the spirits of Chickasaw people.
Oktibihah