We Were Already Singing
Contemporary chamber music for two violins, cello, bass clarinet, piano, vibraphone and three wordless voices, Mature American composer: distant Appalachian roots, Icelandic spaciousness, semi-improvised ensemble writing, newly transformed by encounters with Georgian polyphonic singing, Organic collective music, warm and physical rather than cinematic, Begin with one sustained human voice; cello finds a neighboring tone, then another voice enters, creating close imperfect intervals, A simple three-note modal motif appears simultaneously in several altered versions, Independent lines overlap, collide and briefly align, Open fifths coexist with seconds, fourths and rich vocal friction, Sparse piano and luminous vibraphone retain a sense of distance while voices bring intimacy, Brief crooked Appalachian pulse emerges and vanishes, Wordless vowels and invented syllables only, No choir grandeur, no folk pastiche, Unpredictable, communal, intimate, raw, tender and quietly playful
V6
[Voice I] Ora nai Ora nai Mera dolé Sai [Voice II] Dara Dara mo Eni ra Eni ra [Voice III] Oro Naïa Oro Naïa [Voices overlapping] Ora nai Dara mo Oro naïa Mera Mera dolé Eni ra Sai [Voices, freely entering] Ora... Dara... Mera... Oro... [All voices] Naïa mora Naïa mora Dara eni ra Naïa mora [Fragmented] Ora Ora nai Dara Dara mo Mera Dolé Oro Naïa [All, slowly] Mera naïa Ora eni Dara mora Sai [Ending, individual voices fading] Ora nai... Mera... Eni ra... Sai...
