b. 1980 || American || vocal, choral
abbiebetinis.com || Twitter || YouTube || SoundCloud
As I was/have been working on the composer database page, I found Abbie Betinis and her music and was completely awe-struck with her writing. The New York Times accurately described her music as "inventive, richly melodic". She has had over 80 commissions by various entities including American Choral Directors, Cantus, and Zeitgeist.
The three songs that I would like to highlight today varely widely in style, yet each is hauntingly beautiful, creative, and clear in its message.
Yhinx : An Ancient Greek Love Charm is witty, inventive, and kept me on the edge of my seat. Her repititions and sense of melodic flow are so clever that I love finding the "easter eggs" each time I listen to the piece. Written in Greek and English, it uses two incantations that determine to bring back a wayward lover.
Yhinx : An Ancient Greek Love Charm
Touch Hands has been one of her pieces that I have caught myself singing around the house. The melody, while simple and pure, leaves me with a strong sense of humanness and community. The piece, as the clip suggests, is written as a way to say grace at the table. It transports me to a place where I can tangibly feel the friendship and peace encompassing a communal table and forget that we are in the middle of a world-wide pandemic. It can provide a great comfort, and leave a feeling of nolstalgia for these otherwise dark times.
Touch Hands
As perhaps one of her more well-known pieces Journey Home displays the feelings of immigrants who are searching for a place to live life and call home. It reminds its listeners of the difficulties of starting anew, and yet expands on the immense sense of hope that many of these immigrants have getting to be apart of a community.
Journey Home
Abbie Betinis's music is full of passion and purpose. She captures the listener's attention with her intentional lyrics, creativity, and full melodic lines. She has quickly become one of my new favorite living composers and I hope that you enjoy listening to her music as much as I do.
To explore more of her music and discover news and performances, visit the links above.
As a disclaimer in case anyone needs it:
I do not own any of the videos or information that you see in this blog post.
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