Details
- Mezzo Sop., Cl./B.Cl., Va., Perc.
Archives
Details
- Voice, Orchestra
Program Notes
This work is a setting of poems by Antonio Machado. It was commissioned by
Ian Hodges and Charlene Pauls, with financial assistance from the Manitoba Arts Council.
Texts:
I
Tal vez la mano, en sueños,
del sembrador de estrellas,
hizo sonar la música olvidada
como una nota de la lira inmensa,
y la ola humilde a nuestros labios vino
de unas pocas palabras verdaderas.
II
Todo pasa y todo queda,
pero lo nuestro es pasar,
pasar haciendo caminos,
caminos sobre la mar.
III
Todo hombre tiene dos
batallas que pelear:
en sueños lucha con Dios;
y despierto, con el mar.
IV
Crece en la plaza en sombra
el musgo, y en la piedra vieja y santa
de la iglesia. En el atrio hay un mendigo . . .
Más vieja que la iglesia tiene el alma.
Sube muy lento, en las mañanas frías,
por la marmórea grada,
hasta un rincón de piedra . . . Allí aparece
su mano seca entre la rota capa.
Con las órbitas huecas de sus ojos
ha visto cómo pasan
las blancas sombras, en los claros días,
las blancas sombras de las horas santas.
Program Notes
This work is a setting of poetry by Dennis Cooley. It was written for soprano Therese Costes.
Details
- 13
- Soprano, Clarinet/Bass Clarinet, Violin, Piano and AXIO Controller
Score Excerpts
Program Notes
This work was commissioned by Ensemble Resonance for their 2000/2001 season. The commission was made possible with financial assistance from the Canada Council. Many thanks to Dennis Cooley for the use of his wonderful poetry; it is a recording of his voice which provides much of the source material for the electroacoustic sounds in this piece.
Texts
I
A few pebbles of
rain red dust & the
creak of hinges working hard & dark cracks
open cranks its shutters open & will
not close for the night
II
absent minded
find traces of you
till out of the jelly they will
come the heat of eyes
surprise me they are blond
blind with regret
the ache of blood in the head
in my whole body remembering you
III
it has
jumped down
upon her
the sun
has jumped
& soon now
the moon
strolls slow
beside her
low inside her
like a white
foot
(floating)
IV
when you die she sd
she sd
its like
ghosts
shucked off
the white
flesh in your teeth
the bones melt
sweet (as butter)
in your mouth
she sd
look
its like zippered
silk
shucked off
she sd
the white teeth
sweat in the flesh
the wet seeds
sweet (as
salt) in my mouth melt
when you die
she sd
V
so glad
just to
with
dance
to
just
so
to
dance
with
just
you
Excerpts from Bloody Jack, ©1984, Dennis Cooley. Used by permission.
Details
- Choir (SATB)
Details
- Voices, Dancers, String Quartet
Details
- 11
- Voice and Piano (available in both high and low voice versions)
Program Notes
I was drawn to these poems because of their imagery and sensuality, and I have attempted to reflect these qualities in the music. The texts are taken from the collection Causer L’Amour, published in 1992 by Editions Saint–Germain–des–Prés, Paris.
I
ton sommeil est un oubli
plus profond qui attend
le soleil sans expectative,
héritière d’un corps
qui pense demain dans le moment,
toi joie moléculaire
comme bulles de savon
va d’où elle vient,
rêve de fenêtres
quand la mer ancestrale
baye au corail.II
La chambre variations de brume
l’odeur de douze nuits douze
notes d’été dans l’arène de la lune
fenêtre ouverte toi enveloppée
de la dentelle où la nocturne ajoure
ton <<odalisque>> comme des glacons
d’araignée dans la toile qui nous suspend
à la fragile fresque du temps.
L’oubli va et vient dans le bonheur.J.R. Léveillé, from Causer L’Amour, ©1992, Éditions Saint–Germain–Des–Prés, 17, rue des Grands–-Augustins — 75006 Paris. Used by permission.
Poet Roger Léveillé writes:
“These poems are a celebration of life. They are evidently love poems, part of an ensemble of sensual and spiritual delights (the two are not exclusive; au contraire!). They are an active song, stemming from and participating in the same state of grace from which the feelings and events they reflect arose.
They and the ensemble they are excerpted from are structured into a kind of archeology of life wherein the most mundane object seems interconnected with the most cosmic event. And though these are, in essence, poems of the infinite and the eternal (to use grand words), they are also simply poems of pleasure, for the absolute can only be perceived, felt or sensed through individual experience. This is the great oxymoron of the universe.”
This work was commissioned by the Eckhardt–Gramatté Foundation for the 1996 Eckhardt–Gramatté Competition. The commission was made possible with financial assistance from the Canada Council and the Manitoba Arts Council.
Details
- 10
- Soloists and SATB Choir
Program Notes
Text
O our Mother the Earth, O our Father the Sky,
Your children are we, and with tired backs
We bring you the gifts that you love.
Then weave for us a garment of brightness;
May the warp be the white light of morning,
May the weft be the red light of evening,
May the fringes be the falling rain,
May the border be the standing rainbow.
Thus weave for us a garment of brightness
That we may walk fittingly where birds sing,
That we may walk fittingly where grass is green,
O our Mother the Earth, O our Father the Sky!
Traditional Tewa
Song of the Sky Loom was commissioned by the University Singers with financial assistance from the Manitoba Arts Council.
Details
- 70
- Soprano, Five Actors, Flute/Piccolo/Alto Flute, Clarinet/Bass Clarinet, Violin, Bass, Percussion, Piano, Live Electronics, Tape
Score Excerpts
Program Notes
Madrugada was written between 1992 and 1995. It is based on texts by Patrick Friesen, and tells of the spiritual quest of an unnamed traveler, who over the course of the work has a series of symbolic encounters with wise yet enigmatic and challenging ciphers: a reader of cards, a rhyming savant, a mute healer, a barker of the carnival of life. Hovering over and moving through this world is an Old Woman, leader of the spirit/demons, a gatherer of bones, the animating spirit of human life.
Financial assistance for the creation and development of this work was generously provided by the Canada Council and the Manitoba Arts Council.
The world premier took place on April 26, 27 and 28, 1995 at the Franco-Manitoban Cultural Centre, Winnipeg. This production was developed in collaboration with director Richard Fowler, Primus Theatre, the Thira Ensemble, and the GroundSwell new music series. The performers were:
Primus Theatre
Don Kitt
Tannis Kowalchuk
Stephen Lawson
Karin Randoja
Ker Wells
Thira
Therese Costes, Soprano
Laurel Ridd, Flutes
Lori Freedman, Clarinets
Paule Préfontaine, Violin
Steve Hamilton, Bass
Rob Gardner, Percussion
Mary Jo Carrabré, Keyboards
Michael Matthews, Electronics
The production was directed by Richard Fowler
Lighting Design by Don Kitt
Stage Manager Jane Wells