Songs of Destroyed Souls (2020)
I. Arrow, II. Esmeralda, III. Realism
solo soprano and 111(b.cl.)1(cbsn.) / 1110 / 1perc. / harp / strings (11111)
text by Beth Bachmann
15'
I. Arrow, II. Esmeralda, III. Realism
solo soprano and 111(b.cl.)1(cbsn.) / 1110 / 1perc. / harp / strings (11111)
text by Beth Bachmann
15'
I think about suffering a lot. I think about the dilemma of our existence and for the whole earth, one of God's mysteries.
I've always loved Beth Bachmann's poetry not only for how she carefully selects verbal timbre, but for how viscerally and fearlessly articulates base yet honest human emotions. While her work is often dark, light's power is not absent. I greatly enjoy Thomas Mann's Doctor Faustus because of how it examines the prices of choices, especially in regards to love, fulfillment, failure, and damnation; the idea of Esmeralda lingers and morphs throughout the entire novel.
To sing is one of the most profound human gifts. In my work, I sought to use the voice, aided by the color of the orchestra and the texts I've mentioned, to put meditations on pain, damage, and loss into music. But I also sought to weave prayers of peace into my work. As an artist, I'm fascinated in weighing great despair in one hand, and calming hope in the other. I'm interested in the expression of the soul's depths, in stretched reality.
Performances:
-Reduction recorded by Cait Aloia and Rachel Chao, Duncan Hall, Houston, Texas, December 14, 2021.
-Cait Aloia, Karl Blench, and instrumentalists of the Shepherd School of Music, Duncan Hall, Houston, Texas, November 15, 2021.
I've always loved Beth Bachmann's poetry not only for how she carefully selects verbal timbre, but for how viscerally and fearlessly articulates base yet honest human emotions. While her work is often dark, light's power is not absent. I greatly enjoy Thomas Mann's Doctor Faustus because of how it examines the prices of choices, especially in regards to love, fulfillment, failure, and damnation; the idea of Esmeralda lingers and morphs throughout the entire novel.
To sing is one of the most profound human gifts. In my work, I sought to use the voice, aided by the color of the orchestra and the texts I've mentioned, to put meditations on pain, damage, and loss into music. But I also sought to weave prayers of peace into my work. As an artist, I'm fascinated in weighing great despair in one hand, and calming hope in the other. I'm interested in the expression of the soul's depths, in stretched reality.
Performances:
-Reduction recorded by Cait Aloia and Rachel Chao, Duncan Hall, Houston, Texas, December 14, 2021.
-Cait Aloia, Karl Blench, and instrumentalists of the Shepherd School of Music, Duncan Hall, Houston, Texas, November 15, 2021.