Lee Hyla: We Speak Etruscan for Baritone Saxophone and Bass Clarinet

Steven Banks, baritone saxophone
Andy Hudson, bass clarinet

The work is dedicated to the saxophonist Tim Berne, bass clarinetist Tim Smith and Norm Roberson, Etruscan enthusiast, tour guide and portiere at the American Academy in Rome.

The piece was written in 1992 in New York following Hyla’s Rome Prize residency at the American Academy, and was premiered by Berne and Smith in 1993 at Jordan Hall in Boston.

The creation of We Speak Etruscan was initiated by Tim Berne and was also inspired by Hyla’s twenty-year artistic friendship with Tim Smith. The title of the piece has multi-layered and ironic connotations, exemplified by the fact that the ancient Etruscans spoke a language that is now lost (only the alphabet is decipherable). The music’s jazz-like riffs contrasting with moments of lyrical stillness provide a vehicle that is a tour de force for the wind-instrument cousins.