Third-Millennium Heart

for soprano and ten instruments; recording forthcoming

program note:

Third-Millennium Heart takes its name from the text’s source material, Ursula Andkjær Olsen’s book of poetry of the same name. Andkjær Olsen’s work investigates complex human relationships through a contemporary lens, showing the insecurity, violence, and skepticism that revolve around our personal interactions today.

The composition is divided into eleven movements, nine vocal and two instrumental, often alternating between the full instrumental palette and subsets. The ensemble itself contains multiple symmetries: the two antiphonal pianos with percussion between them. The three woodwinds (flute, oboe, and clarinet) on one side of the stage and the three strings (violin, viola, and cello) on another. The different groups may share material, or oppose one another, almost imitating aspects of human relationships and the work’s text.

The voice is the central component to Third-Millennium Heart. My role as composer is to add to Andkjær Olsen’s poetry, to create a sound world that complements her words. Three categories of vocal movements helped guide the compositional process: statement, song, and mix. Statements have text delivery as its primary focus, using speech, instruments and voice in homorhythm, and reduced texture to concentrate on the words. Songs borrow from different musical traditions, or use repetition of text and musical material. The freer mix designation combines different elements from statements and songs as the text calls for.

c. 50’