#2252: What is an Ocarina?

New Sounds | May 24, 2010

Hear flutes of all shapes and sizes on this installment of New Sounds, including recorders, pan pipes, and ocarinas. What is an ocarina, you ask? Not just a way to save Princess Zelda from the evil Ganondorf in the video game, ocarinas, or vessel flutes, are instruments that have been around since the Stone Age. Whether ceramic, wooden, plastic (bone, antler, seed pod, seaweed, jade, quartz, or metal), many are made in the shape of small animals, some are anthropomorphic, some look like “sweet potatos”. The late Lou Harrison in his Canticle #3, calls for the ocarina as solo instrument to trade melodies with the ensemble while a guitar is strummed. Hear that work along with the sounds of Native American player R. Carlos Nakai’s wooden flute and the Andean contemporary native instrument orchestra Arawi on this New Sounds program.

PROGRAM # 2252, Music for American Flutes (First aired Mon. 2/23/04)

ARTIST(S)	RECORDING	CUT(S)	SOURCE
Thomas J. Bellino	Star Gods of the Ancient Americas	Part 1, excerpt [4:30]	No longer available, but info about the composer at: www.francomm.com
Lou Harrison	Drums Along the Pacific	Canticle #3 [14:30]	New Albion #122*. www.newalbion.com
John Luther Adams	Songbirdsongs	Wood Thrush [5:30]	Opus One #66 (LP); LP perhaps available at gemm.com, another recording of the piece is on Centaur #2273, available at www.arkivmusic.com
R. Carlos Nakai	Sundance Season	Evensong [5:00]	Celestial Harmonies #13024** www.harmonies.com*
Various Artists: The Complete 10-inch series from Cold Blue		Barney Childs: Clay Music, excerpt [5:00]	Cold Blue 3 CD set #0014 www.coldbluemusic.com*
Una Romas	The Wooden Bridge - Una Ramos	Petit Flocon de Neige [2:30]	Chant du Monde #274842. Available through Harmonia Mundi www.harmoniamundi.com
Arawi	The Doctrine of Cycles	Imaraycu (Why) [2:30]	New Albion #029 www.newalbion.com*
John Luther Adams	Songbirdsongs	Mourning Dove [2:30]	See above.

*, ** Find the recordings you've heard - go to the New Sounds Recordings Information page

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