“I became obsessed with the building,” said composer Andy Akiho. “It’s free and open to the public. You can walk right in. I went there over a hundred times. Even at two o’clock in the morning, when it is closed, I’d walk around the building. It’s awesome and cool.”
Akiho was describing his fascination with the Pantheon, a huge temple in Rome that dates back to 126 AD. It’s the inspiration for “Beneath Lighted Coffers,” his concerto for steel pan and orchestra, which will be performed by the Oregon Symphony this weekend.
Acclaimed for his virtuosic talent, Akiho grew up in South Carolina and learned how to play the steel pan while living in Trinidad. Later he received a master’s degree in contemporary performance in percussion from the Manhattan School of Music and a masters in composition from Yale University. His writing for the steel pan has garnered three Grammy nominations. He now lives in Portland, where he is the Oregon Symphony’s Composer-in-Residence and Creative Alliance member.
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The Pantheon attracted Akiho’s attention during his time in Rome 2014-2015 after winning the Rome Prize for musical composition. The Pantheon’s famous, coffered dome is the largest unsupported concrete structure in the world, measuring 142 feet in diameter and 142 feet from the top of the dome to the marble floor below.
“When I was in Rome,” recalled Akiho, “I learned a lot about the Pantheon from the architects at the American Academy. I read everything about it, took lots of pictures, and even blew up some of them.
With the architecture of the Pantheon in mind, Akiho divided “Beneath Lighted Coffers” into five movements: Portico, Twenty Eight, Oculus, Corelli, and Permanence.
“The Portico of the Pantheon is the entrance,” explained Akiho. “It consists of these huge, monolithic, granite columns that were brought from Egypt.”
“Twenty Eight refers to the coffers – the rectangular indentations on the inside of the dome,” said Akiho. “There are five concentric rows of 28 coffers – 140 in all. It is visually cool. For the second movement, I pictured the coffers spinning.”
The Oculus is the opening at the top of the dome. It lets in the sunlight, which moves around the inside of the building throughout the day. The sloped floor drains off any rainfall that gets in.
“Architects still don’t know how they made a dome that strong without being reinforced,” noted Akiho. It has different types of concrete that gets thinner and thinner as it gets to the top. The Oculus movement has a feeling like the Adagietto of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony. I’m picturing a nice day with cumulus clouds passing overhead. There’s a tiny bit of percussion, but it’s a vibraphone bowed, strings, harp, and steel pan. It ends with a harp and steel pan duo.”
Among the famous people buried in the Pantheon are the painter Raphael and the Baroque composer Arcangelo Corelli.
“I took the third movement from one of Corelli’s concerti grossi and wrote out the pitches and reversed them. Then I printed on paper the pattern of squares and circles that make up the marble floor of the Pantheon and assigned the notes of the Corelli piece to them and orchestrated the whole thing. This is the fastest and shortest movement in the piece – just a couple of minutes.”
“The final movement, Permanence, reflects the legacy of the building,” remarked Akiho. “The first two versions of the Pantheon burnt down. So, the one that is there today was built to last. It has witnessed so much of Rome’s history.”
While in Rome, Akiho didn’t spend all his time wandering around the city.
“I wrote three or four orchestra pieces there,” he recalled. “I wrote more music than I had ever done in my life up to that point.”
Akiho is not a hermit when he composes. He prefers to work on his music while ordering a drink at a bar or a coffee shop.
“I want the company, the energy, and the good vibes,” he explained, “rather than the sounds. If I am in my condo, writing by myself all day, it drives me crazy.”
Another unique facet of Akiho is the way that he thinks of music.
“I am more visual than audio,” he said. “Even when I am playing, I am thinking the colors, and that’s how I memorize a piece. Sometimes it is shapes or a visual feeling. So I think everything visually.”
The only downside to his upcoming concert with the Oregon Symphony, is that the steel pan he had planned to use for the concert was stolen from storage unit at his condominium in February.
“I’ve got a replacement,” said Akiho. “It has a warmer sound, but it doesn’t quite cut through the orchestral sound as much.”
As an innate percussionist, he is always trying out new ideas, and techniques. The Oregon Symphony made a video of him slapping and tapping light poles and other structures as he walked the streets of Portland.
“I’ve got a lot of work to do, and I have so many ideas,” said Akiho. “I want every piece I write to be the best piece that I’ve ever written. I am just trying to raise the bar for myself.”
Andy Akiho will discuss “Beneath Lighted Coffers” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 28, at the Alberta Rose Theatre, 3000 N.E. Alberta St.; $20, orsymphony.org.
The Oregon Symphony will perform “Beneath Lighted Coffers” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 29, 2 p.m. Sunday, April 30, and 7:30 p.m. Monday, May 1, at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 S.W. Broadway; $25-$129, orsymphony.org.
— James Bash
