Celebrated cellist and composer India Gailey combines with Symphony Nova Scotia to release an exciting recording of profound and robust performances.
Thanks to Riparian Media
American-Canadian cellist India Gailey‘s recorded output thus far has tended to put the work of other composers in the spotlight. Within recent years, the young Halifax resident has established themselves as one of North America’s fiercest and most adventurous champions of contemporary music, however, along the way they have also offered glimpses into their own compositional prowess. Although the widely acclaimed to you through (2022, Redshift Records) featured a single, brief work of theirs amongst five others, and their debut, Lucid also included three originals, many listeners had yet to experience this aspect of Gailey’s vision in full vivid detail. With the forthcoming mini-album Butterfly Lightning Shakes The Earth, we are finally treated to exactly that, coupled, of course, with Gailey’s robust and insightful cello playing.
The recording begins with a set of three solo miniatures, Mountainweeps, that were originally written for the noted cellist Arlen Hlusko in 2020, when Hlusko commissioned several composers to write pieces for her to premiere on Instagram. (At that point, the time limit for a video post was 60 seconds, thus each movement had to be less than such.) The work draws its inspiration and title from the impact of climate change on alpine environments. “As glaciers continue to shrink, alpine plants and creatures migrate further toward the sky, which they will do until there is no ice or upward left to follow, until they are ghosts,” Gailey explains in the program notes. Though clocking in at a mere three minutes, the set nonetheless encapsulates one of the most notable features of Gailey’s writing: their uncanny ability to seamlessly integrate timbral interest with an accessible, and often generously melodic way of navigating pitch. This tendency imbues their compositions with a sort of magical quality, and expresses welcome disregard for the supposed boundary between more experimental or avant-garde contemporary music with more conventional approaches.
On the longer titular composition, effectively a cello concerto that Gailey performs with Symphony Nova Scotia (under the baton of Karl Hirzer and musical direction Holly Mathieson) in a live recording captured at St. Andrew’s Church in Halifax, this penchant for euphonious but meticulously texturized sound is examined on a much broader scale, both sonically and durationally. Butterfly Lightning Shakes the Earth was conceived in residence at the Banff Centre and supported by the Paul Cram Creation Award from Upstream Music Association, which Gailey won in 2023. It bears a dedication to the composer’s father.
What’s fascinating about Gailey’s handling of orchestral forces is that it manages somehow to deliver the evocative power of Romantic-era repertoire, almost entirely without resembling the music of said era. As such, it’s a rare example of a piece that could dovetail easily with programs of a more traditional bent, yet all the while convey a palpable curiosity about sound, not to mention patience, restraint, and imagination. It’s clear Gailey isn’t operating under the assumption that there is more “progress” to be made in the modernist project, rather, they’re eager to hybridize different worlds—undoubtedly a result of their immersion in music of numerous genres. Their album of commissioned works from earlier this year, Problematica reflects this very same eagerness, presenting everything from wayward songs to the outer reaches of electroacoustic experimentation.
This reconciliation of disparate musical languages is mirrored in the underlying concept for the piece as well. Gailey grew up in the Buddhist lineage founded by the late Tibetan lama Chögyam Trungpa, who spoke about “joining heaven, earth, and humanity.” While this was often said of calligraphy, it’s a dictum that holds several meanings—a call to embrace plurality. It’s something that can certainly be applied to Gailey’s compositional sensibility, yet in the context of this piece, it could be regarded as a call to look at both the butterfly and at lightning from a more complex perspective. “Small and vast at the same time, the most delicate butterfly, lonely warrior in a landfill, speck of dust constellation, they all carry power beyond what could ever be known,” says Gailey in the album’s accompanying notes. Meanwhile, they characterize lightning—which is often seen as a destructive force—as “the swiftest route between heaven and earth, displaying our fragility, waking us up to the electric web of our world.”
Full of graceful contours, surging power, and radiant contrast, it’s a unique statement in the concerto medium that showcases Gailey’s eclectic vision and also their singular voice on the instrument. It also closes out a very exciting recording—one that’s brief enough to leave listeners hungry for more.
India Gailey (she/they) is a cellist, composer, vocalist, and improviser currently based in Kjipuktuk (Halifax, Nova Scotia). She draws from many eras and genres to craft poetic narratives of sound, most often performing in the realms of classical and experimental music. She frequently works directly with living composers, including the likes of Philip Glass, Yaz Lancaster, Amy Brandon, Michael Harrison, Anne Lanzilotti and Nicole Lizée. Named by CBC as one of “30 hot Canadian classical musicians under 30,” she has toured extensively across the Western hemisphere as a soloist, chamber musician, and collaborator. Gailey’s most recent work has been presented by organizations such as the Canadian Music Centre, Government House (Nova Scotia), International Contemporary Ensemble (NYC), Metropolis Ensemble (NYC), and Upstream Music (Nova Scotia). She has also performed and/or held residencies at Domaine Forget, the Banff Centre, Garth Newel Music Center, Halifax Jazz Festival, OBEY Convention, Open Waters Festival, Guelph Jazz Festival, Suoni Per Il Popolo, and the Tuckamore Festival. Gailey holds numerous honours, including awards from the Nova Scotia Talent Trust, the Canada Council for the Arts, Acadia University, and McGill University. In 2021, she was bestowed an “Emerging Artist Recognition Award” from Arts Nova Scotia. To you through was also “Classical Recording of the Year” at the 2023 Music Nova Scotia Music & Industry Awards. India is a member of Blackwood with Jeff Reilly and Peter Togni, and of the experimental rock group Scions. She has also seen critical acclaim and awards as a member of improvising quartet New Hermitage.
With a home base in Halifax/K’jipuktuk and performances across the province, Symphony Nova Scotia is proud to be a vibrant, vital part of Nova Scotia’s rich cultural community. Under the inspirational leadership of Music Director Holly Mathieson, Symphony Nova Scotia creates unforgettable experiences through varied and engrossing programming featuring great music alongside exciting community partnerships.
