| Threnody (V.25) A solo aria for soprano and chamber ensemble, Threnody provides the soloist the unique challenge of singing a text in an 'implied language'; that is, the text is an original poem 'translated' into a synthetic language (notated in IPA). Threnody was composed in an attempt to express, in its purest form, a theory of mine that the ability of a song to be emotionally moving had almost nothing to do with the text, and rather relied on how the composer chose to set it and how the performer chose to sing it. So I removed the variable of the text, in a manner of sorts. Here, the soloist is singing the text to an actual poem, but translated into a 'synthetic language' borrowing subtle ligustic phenomena from many languages to express, subconsciously and through her performance, the meaning of the text. Of course, the original poem, in english, is not included in the score, as that would undermine the entire experiment, but detailed notes on IPA pronunciation are included. Scored for soprano, flute, soprano sax, 2 violas, cello, bass, harp, piano, and Percussion (Vibraphone, Suspended Cymbal, Wind Chimes, Large Bass Drum, 1 player) |
 Page 2 of the piano reduction score to Threnody Click to enlarge (click back to return to this page) |
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