| Notes |
& The is a setting of a poem by Fluxus artist, Jackson Mac Low, for mezzo-soprano and bass koto. I composed it in 15/8 to make use of 3:5 cross rhythms. The phrases for the koto are more or less regular, while the phrasing for the vocal part emphasizes the asymmetry of the poem. There are only six words in the poem which appear in various combinations. My initial inspiration was to assign a pitch to each word so that the poem itself would compose the music. But, in the end, I created the melody by intuition. Ryuko Mizutani commissioned & The, and premiered it at World Music Hall, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, April 26, 2000. [Jason Cady] |
