The Idea of Order at Key West (2007) 11'
Baritone, Guitar and Percussion
Poem by Wallace Stevens
Program Note:
“The Idea of Order at Key West” (1936) is one of Wallace Stevens’ most powerful poems. I encountered this poem in a small library in my hometown in Japan while I was researching American poetry in Autumn 2006. I was deeply inspired and decided to set the poem to a new composition for baritone, guitar and percussion. My concern was how to express the magnificent scale of the poem in my musical language. It was a great challenge.
The work was composed for leading virtuoso musicians – Patrick Mason, baritone, David Starobin, guitar and Daniel Druckman, percussion to be performed at concerts on their national tour. The instrumentation is unique and the size and number percussion instruments limited, since the work for a tour piece. The limitation in the percussion selection gave me a direction for the piece. I carefully chose 12 small instruments and arranged them so they would deeply resonate: thus small kins and crotales are performed on/in water and Tam-tam are played with cut super balls. I wanted to express the core of the poem which I envisioned as Stevens’ direct reflection of his thoughts on creation. This is also a theme in my own work. Capturing Stevens’ inner voice to be sung in a spiritual manner was my intention. The piece was completed in December 2007.
“The Idea of Order at Key West”, copyright 1936 by Wallace Stevens and renewed 1964 by Holly Stevens, from THE COLLECTED POEMS OF WALLACE STEVENS by Wallace Stevens. Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.
This work was funded in part by the Composer Assistance Program of the American Music Center. |
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