What the Silence Offers

VIEW PERUSAL SCORE:

MSC0012 – What the Silence Offers – PERUSAL SCORE PDF

PROGRAM NOTE:

With so much vibrant and evocative imagery in this poem, I wanted to make sure that the text was not buried under the music. I decided the best way to do this would be a combination of the choir singing key elements of text, and an amplified voice acting as a narrator, reciting more substantial parts of the poem. The imagery is further enhanced by the soloist and choir singing large sections of music which are not set to text, creating a contemplative atmosphere.

I was most taken by the image of the “colossal spirit,” which I wanted to emulate throughout the work as the underlying character of the piece. At the end of the poem, this colossal spirit is described as “pulsing,” and I decided to turn this pulsing feeling into a tangible musical element which drives the music forward. It was a unique challenge to write a musical piece based on a poem which focuses so heavily on ideas of silence, stillness, quiescence, etc. I decided to focus on the contrast between stillness and motion, silence and sound, to create the sonic equivalent of a “flooding of negative space” or “tidal Silence [drawing] backwards.”

PERFORMANCE NOTES:

–Text in quotation marks above staff is to be spoken by one amplified voice. The performer speaking this text may stand either in front of the choir or out of the audience’s sight, and should not sing between speaking parts. (Suggestion: perhaps your choir’s collaborative pianist could take on this role.)

–“hum” : begin with an open and accented “hu” before closing to “mm” (as notated in mm.1-3)

–“aa” : like a sforzando, accent the onset of the syllable, then recede (as notated in mm.46)

–“ah” : normal “ah” vowel, with no accent.

–“hm” : normal humming (start with mouth closed).

-“hum” and “aa” sounds are layered on top of each other in alternating voice parts with the goal of creating a pulsating effect.