In a 2018 interview, Chris Derksen introduced herself in a way that I can safely bet you’ve never heard anyone introduce themselves: as a “half-Cree, half-Mennonite electronic cellist.”
Her music is as compellingly original and multi-layered as that background implies, with influences so varied that fans of Eric Whitacre and Joni Mitchell will probably be equally into her compositions. I only wish I’d discovered her sooner.
Chris Derksen, tragically, died last month in a car crash at age 45. But her dual-edged mission – to bring Indigenous people to the orchestra and introduce fans of the orchestra to Indigenous forms – is a legacy as beautiful as her music.
What makes this a beautiful song:
1. The light pizzicato gives the song its tempo and recalls traditional Indigenous drums.
2. The time signature is hypnotically polyrhythmic; you can hear feel it as 6/8 or 6/4, and it produces forward momentum, as if the song keeps interrupting itself with the next melodic phrase.
3. The way most of the cellos cut out at the end, and just the rhythmic plucking remains.
Recommended listening activity:
Browsing books in a section you don’t usually browse.