Vocal
What you Seek: A Song Cycle
based on 3 Rumi Texts
Text: Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī
Translation by Coleman Barks: The Illuminated Prayer (Movements II and III)
2023/17’
for 2 Sopranos, Singing Bowls, Delay Pedal and
Multi Effects Processing
written for the 44th Annual Bowling Green New
Music Festival
What you Seek: A Song Cycle based on 3 Rumi Texts was written in partnership with Rose Hegele and Keri Lee Pierson, two soprano vocalists who I have collaborated on previous projects. The song cycle is based on 3 texts from Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī, a Sufi mystic and a famous poet from the 13th century who was considered to have an enormous influence on readers and religious scholars throughout history: What you Seek is Seeking You, One Song and Why Cling. Rose and Keri Lee and I had discussed this project for two years, as I was instantly drawn to this short quote of the first movement, due to its simplicity yet deeply profound spiritual message.
We decided to build upon What you Seek with two other poems that would complete a balanced song cycle with concepts pertaining to openness, exploration, meditation, discovery, conflict, and resolution. What you Seek: A Song Cycle is written for two soprano vocalists, singing bowls, delay pedal and multi-effects processing, and was premiered at the 44th Annual Bowling Green New Music Festival on October 21, 2023, performed by Keri Lee Pierson and Carolyn Ashley Anderson. What you Seek was also professionally recorded by Rose and Keri Lee in late November/early December of 2023. For a complete transcript of the 3 Rumi poems, click here.
As is the Inward Suspicious Mind
Text: Elizabeth I (French Psalter)
2021/4’15
for solo voice, loop station and multiple digital delay processing pedals
As is the Inward Suspicious Mind is taken from the last verse of Elizabeth I's French Psalter poem "No Crooked Leg, No Blearéd Eye", and was written for solo soprano, loop station, digital delay processing pedal, and various plugin effects. This poem was written when Elizabeth I (then Princess) was taken prisoner at the Tower of London by her half sister Queen Mary Tudor, in fear that the young Princess was supporting Protestant rebels in England. As is the Inward Suspicious Mind musically quotes "Dansereye (1551) - Den I Ronde 'Pour Quoy" (Tielman Susato), which was also used as source music in the 1998 motion picture film "Elizabeth”.
As is the Inward Suspicious Mind was recorded in Notting Hill, London, with Soprano Emily Thorner on 28 December, 2021.
No crookèd leg, no blearèd eye,
No part deformèd out of kind,
Nor yet so ugly half can be
As is the inward suspicious mind.
“First they Came…”
Text: Martin Niemöller
2018/8’
for vocal quartet+string trio
written for the Oregon Bach Festival
soprano, alto, tenor, baritone,
violin, viola, violoncello
Score
"First They Came…", for vocal quartet (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Baritone) and string trio, was written for the 2018 Oregon Bach Festival Composers Symposium. I had chosen this iconic poem due to my reaction of the current political state in this country. In 2017 I was living in England at the time, and I was horrified to learn about the Executive Order 13769, titled "Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States", often referred to as the “Muslim ban” or the “travel ban,” signed by President Donald Trump on 27 January, 2017. Although this law was revised to a “watered down, politically correct version” from its predecessor, the symbolism in this poem between Nazi Germany and Trump’s America is quite alarming and “speculatively” prophetic. Clearly the ugly insidious mask of fascism is subtly creeping up into America’s homeland: anti-Semitism, racism, homophobia, sexism, and of course, the hatred towards those of the Islamic faith is on the rise, and in some instances, an acceptable form of scapegoat behavior in the United States. When completing this work, by sheer “coincidence” I happen to stumble upon "The Handmaid’s Tale" TV series on Hulu, which is currently based on Margaret Attwood’s 1985 dystopian model. The main protagonist and narrator, Offred the Handmaid, makes the following observation when reflecting of her "old life" as "June" before the great fall of America’s society to the “Republic of Gilead,” which caught my eye upon creating this piece based on Niemöller’s text:
“Now I’m awake to the world. I was asleep before. That’s how we let it happen. When they slaughtered Congress, we didn’t wake up. When they blamed terrorists and suspended the constitution, we didn’t wake up then, either. Nothing changes instantaneously. In a gradually heating bathtub, you’d be boiled to death before you knew it.”
Offred’s repeated theme of "not waking up" is strikingly similar to Niemöller’s repeated stance on "not speaking out", and the gradual “heating bathtub” could also resemble the slow purging of the collective groups from his poem. Although Attwood’s vision of a totalitarian theonomic military dictatorship is not so quite far off from the Trump presidency, there are symptoms in our current political climate that are parallel to the Republic of Gilead. It is my hope that my musical approach to Niemöller written in 2018 is a cautionary tale, rather than being a prologue for what could transpire if we are not careful. Moreover, I will close this commentary of my musical rendition to Martin Niemoller’s "First they Came…” by stating a very special historical quote as a dire warning: “'Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.' (George Santayana)
Three Authors/Three Songs
2001-2007/11’
1. there are so many tictoc (Cummings), for soprano and piano (2005)
2. Fire and Ice (Frost), for mezzo-soprano, flute, and piano (2007)
3. The Snow Globe (Nemerov), for soprano and piano (2001)
Score
Rather than a traditional song cycle, Three Authors/Three Songs is a collection of my best work in the genre of art song. These songs depict a transitional arch of three stages of life: the first experience of timeless eternal love, the pains and tribulations of life as war that still surrounds us in this current generation, and thus, finally, the memories that stay with us as we enter our final chapter in our lives before leaving this world.
Three Authors/Three Songs were not composed in this consecutive order, but came together after 6 years of different circumstances and opportunities. there are so many tictoc, based on the poem of e.e. cummings, is written for soprano with piano accompaniment, and was premiered at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music 2005 5th Annual Art Song Competition on April 1, 2005. Fire and Ice, based on the poem of Robert Frost, is written for both mezzo-soprano and soprano (transposed score available), which includes a flute with a piano accompaniment. It was premiered at the “Musik für Gesang und Instrumente” Concert at the Akademie der Künste in Berlin, Germany on July 11, 2007. The Snow Globe, based on the poem by Howard Nemerov, is written for soprano with piano accompaniment, and was premiered at the Longy School of Music on December 11, 2001.