for Bienen Contemporary/Early Vocal Ensemble and Donald Nally
24 voices, tenor saxophone + electronics
Released on Motion Studies (Navona Records, 2024)
The Crossing | Donald Nally conductor, Matthew Levy tenor saxophone
Performances:
- BCE, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 11/05/2018
- New Earth Ensemble at the Climate Change Conference hosted by Loyola University Chicago, 02/16/2021
- The Crossing, Philadelphia, PA 11/21/2021
- New Earth Ensemble, The EcoVoice Project Festival, Loyola University Chicago, 07/09/2023
New York Times Fall Preview of The Crossing- November 21, 2021 performance.
Program Note:
Often those who turn to the ancient practice of divination do so not out of a belief that it will work, but that it must. A dry well is a crisis. “Water witching,” as it is known in rural America, is a way of coping with one’s environment under conditions of uncertainty and anxiety. The water witch – like the hydrogeologist – is concerned with imagining underground flows of water.
As the spaces which separate the flow of water, watersheds define the borders of this shared resource. The texts juxtapose varied and distinctly American attitudes toward water. The meditations of Muir and Thoreau convey a sense of permanence and power in water’s ability to shape and nourish the land. These observations are contrasted with the urgency that comes with too little water. Mary Austin describes the “destiny” of streams to become irrigation for crops. The Supreme Court decision known as the Winter’s Doctrine set the legal precedent for Native American water rights, citing the necessity of water for self-sufficiency. C.D. Wilber promotes the false propaganda that westward expansion would lead to increased precipitation: “rain follows the plow.” Against this myth, John Wesley Powell asserts, prophetically, that there will never be enough water to irrigate the west. Rachel Carson warns that the health of the land, water, and all living things are inextricably bound.
Movements:
- prelude: water-witching
- I. water borders (13:23)
- II. the lace-like fabric of streams (17:08)
- III. a method for finding (19:36)
- IV. to encourage the habits of industry (21:03)
- V. threads of the community fabric (24:02)
- VI. rain follows the plow (26:35)
- VII. the gentle rain which waters (27:06)
Premiered on November 5, 2018
Galvin Hall, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
Bienen Contemporary/Early Vocal Ensemble
Joe Connor, saxophone
Performance Notes:
Full version for SSSAAATTTBBB. Also available as an octet SSAATTBB.