for Constellation Men’s Ensemble
TTBB and electronics
Performances:
CME, Guarneri Hall Chicago, IL, 02/8-9/2019
Program Note:
Though the air is full of singing
my head is loud
with the labor of words.
the air is full was written for Constellation Men’s Ensemble’s annual new music series, NOVA III: the sounds of silence. The work is inspired and influenced by Wendell Berry’s poem, “The Silence.” Responding to the concert’s theme, I was drawn to Berry’s meditation on the relationship between silence and speech. However, I felt that setting the text directly would betray the spirit of his words. Nevertheless, his poem permeates much of the music, both structurally and metaphorically. The five movements search for connections between sounds from nature and sounds of the human voice – a continuum of noises and resonances brought to life with breath. I am deeply grateful to Constellation Men’s Ensemble for their dedication and artistry in bringing this work into being.
It is in the silence
that my hope is, and my aim.
A song whose lines
I cannot make or sing
sounds men’s silence
like a root.
from “The Silence” by Wendell Berry