Daybreak on Lake Bosomtwe imagines day beginning on a large lake in Ghana formed from a meteorite’s impact. The first part consists of an atmospheric slow introduction, with swelling tremolos over mysterious, deep chord clusters, birdsong, and passages of expectant silence the moment in which the night begins to give way to the first weak light day and life awakening on Lake Bosomtwe*. An impression of nature with an atmosphere full of surprises.

The second part is based on traditional drum rhythms from Ghana. The music’s extremely complex rhythmic shifts form a polyrhythmic network in different meters. While soli mandolins and shaker speed the orchestra on inexorably, the guitars remain pizzicato for some time, so that an interesting tonal effect is reached. Layered on the fabric of Ghanaian rhythms LeVines superimposes the sonorities of the shō from Japanese gagaku, the traditional court music of the aristocracy. The shō is seemingly unusual for this music — a wind instrument which produces 5- to 6-note sound clusters — yet merges well into this pluralistic mix, and again illustrates LeVines’ understanding of music as diverse cultures’ connecting art form.

* Lake Bosomtwe is Ghana’s only natural lake, with a diameter of over 6 miles, and hills of the crater rim reaching over 2000 feet. It is considered sacred, and according to traditional belief the souls of the dead come to the lake to bid farewell to the god Twe. The intact primary rainforest and a rich biodiversity remain untouched in the Ekoho area, although destroyed today in many parts of the basin. Preservation is deserved and needed, and currently there are attempts to declare Lake Bosomtwe a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site.

The music’s extremely complex rhythmic shifts form a polyrhythmic network in different meters. The precise execution of the polyrhythmic structure creates a great effect...
— Concertino Magazin, Fabian Hinsche