FOR SUM Solo Vocal Work

Geode

Composition date: 2021

Text: based on poems by Susan Barba

Instrumentation: soprano and piano

Length: 15 minutes

Piece Description: 

These eight poems by Susan Barba form a sequence within a collection called geode. The poem are about the earth, its constituent rock and minerals - and the way that we sense it - and sometimes abuse it.

Each of the poems - titled "Exhibit" - starts with a vivid image: a place or a view-point, which is cracked open, taking us to unexpected - often beautiful - places. 

I responded to the extreme precision (and concision) of the writing and the sense of fluidity that the poems evoke. These are not static images but rather suggestions of change: sometimes small and gradual; sometimes recalling geological time-frames. 


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