Texture Notes: weak/strong

by Maija Hynninen

for four female voices

Description

Text by Sawako
Nakayasu, from collection Texture Notes 2003:

The weak texture oft he air changing as a train pulls away from its station and a hollow develops, a delayed breeze takes hold, and the uneven bonds of the neighborhood shimmy into place.

A stronger texture of reason, or texture of the reason why I didn’t get on that train, or texture of a frame-by-frame rendering of the thought process leading to the decision to not get on the train, coupled with a late, too late, arrival, large bags in tow or some such excuse. What heaps up against both sides of the closing train doors.

This poem by Japanese American Sawako Nakayasu expresses heaviness with lightness. There is a dramatic event that lead to a decision to not respond, “to not get on that train.” Yet it’s expressed with delicacy of a breeze creating a hollow, an emptiness (or is it relief) when the opportunity has been passed. Writing for the Quince Ensemble, I think it’s also given that there needs to be virtuosity, and drama as well as humour involved in the same package. I approached these from the perspective of different textures, timbre as well as spatial movement and depth that come from the placement and movement of the singers on stage. Although the piece is fully written, I wanted to weave into it the immediate and spontaneous, sometimes
also surprising.

- Maija Hynninen

Instrumentation

4voc [3sopr, alto]

Category

Vocal and Choral Works

Language

En

Lyricist

Sawako Nakayasu

Premiere

Quince Ensemble, January 30, 2020, Taproot New Music Festival, Davis, California

Commisioned by / dedications

Dedicated to Quince Ensemble. Commissioned by the Taproot New Music Festival.

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Archive number

MF33941

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