Reynolds: The Source of WISDOM 'O'o

"WISDOM’s Sources/’O’o" is the groundbreaking new album by Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer Roger Reynolds, continuing his visionary collaboration with producer Mathias Reumert and featuring exclusively first recordings. Each work discovers—in sound, and in the case of "WISDOM’s Sources," also in imagery—a way of reflecting on the conditions of life in the 21st century. "’O’o" for flute and strings was written for and is performed by the renowned Canadian flutist Robert Aitken, a friend and collaborator of Reynolds since the 1960s. The work also features award-winning Canadian violinists Yolanda Bruno and Mark Lee, violist Rory McLeod, and cellist Leana Rutt. Similarly, "WISDOM’s Sources," a duo for violin and viola, was composed for legendary violinist Irvine Arditti and celebrated violist Ralf Ehlers during a visit to San Diego in the summer of 2024. "’O’o" concerns an extinct Hawaiian bird; "WISDOM’s Sources" concerns the search for wisdom in different cultures. In "’O’o," various string instruments are juxtaposed against the melodic flute, gradually revealing the outlines of call and response—those of the last pair of birds. "WISDOM’s Sources" emerged from Reynolds’ creative connection with Irvine Arditti during the COVID pandemic. The close bond of friendship, musical sensibility, and shared ways of thinking is echoed in the sonic interplay between viola and violin. From the outset, Reynolds envisioned "WISDOM’s Sources" as a multimedia work, and his longtime collaborator, filmmaker and video artist Kyle Johnson, created an independent visual composition that unfolds in parallel with the music.