Fragments of common things

Piano, Percussion, Contrabass + Electronics (2020)

Info:

Composed for Bearthoven's 2020 NYU Residency

Program Note:

Fragments of common things is an examination of the quirks that become apparent when the human voice is significantly slowed down. Pitches waver, "ess"-es become harsh, and overtone resonances ring. Here, the ensemble works in tandem with these quirks, imitating and complementing these unique timbres on their own instruments, and letting their overtones fall in and out tune with one another.

The voices heard here are that of a Palestrina madrigal, with texts from Petrarch's Il Canzoniere (originally titled Rerum vulgarium fragmenta, or "Fragments of common things"). In Palestrina's original composition, he did not use one direct passage from Il Canzoniere, but rather arranged lines from several poems into a new cohesive passage. Similarly, I have collaged different passages with field recordings of church bells next door to my previous home in Brooklyn, crafting a sound environment that echoes as the ghost of a sacred past.

Che debbo fara, che mi consigli, amore?
Volgi a me gl’ occhi, i miei sospiri ascolta.
Quai sono stati gl’ anni e i giorni e l’ore.
A seguitar costei ch’ in fuga è vôlta?
Morte, o mercè sia fin al mio dolore.
Rendimi, s’esser può, libera e sciolta
L’alma d’ogni suo ben spogliata e priva,
Che sospirando va di riva in riva.
—
What must I do? What do you counsel, love?
Now turn your eyes to me, and listen to my sighs.
What were the years lived through, and the days and hours,
In pursuing her who has turned in flight?
Death, or mercy, end my sorrow.
Render, if you can, my errant soul, free.
My soul despoiled, deprived of all its good,
Sighing from shore to shore.

Instrumentation:
Piano (with eBow and wire bow), Percussion (Vibraphone, Sizzle Cymbal), Contrabass, Fixed Media

Duration: c. 8’