Listen
for mixed SATB choir and Instrumental Sextet
Written: 2021-22
Duration: 20'
for SATB choir (3 choir members play a single crotale or Tingsha) and instrumental sextet (fl. [doubling alto fl.], cl., vln., vcl, perc. [vibraphone, concert bass drum, four concert tom-toms, large tam-tam, medium suspended cymbal, medium and small triangles, Mark tree, medium and large wood blocks], and piano).
Commissioned by Ember, Deborah Simpkin King, music director, and conductor, in honor of their 25th anniversary
World Premiere: Ember, Deborah Simpkin King, music director, and conductor, St. John’s in the Village, New York, NY, May 21, 2022; Our Lady of Sorrows Church, South Orange, NJ, May 22, 2022
Publisher: Bill Holab Music
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PROGRAM NOTE
Most people want to be heard and want to be loved, and we are usually better at talking than listening. We are often so immersed in ourselves that we not only forget to listen to others in a meaningful, effective way but also to the world around us. With that in mind, Listen is about listening to each other and the world around us more deeply, especially concerning our environment. In that sense, this piece could have been titled “Deep Listening,” but since this work is meant to be more a call to action than an alliteration of a musical concept, I felt that Listen was a more appropriate title. Listen uses a tapestry of quotes from various well-known sources, both ancient and contemporary, that are about or related to the environment. My main goal through this piece is to create a musical call to action, encourage listening, and help to raise awareness about our environment and the natural world around us.
Listen is scored for choir (3 members playing Tingshas or crotales) and chamber ensemble, consisting of a flute, clarinet, violin, cello, percussion, and piano, and was commissioned by and is dedicated to Ember, Deborah Simpkin King, music director, and conductor, in honor of their 25th anniversary.
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Listen
Listen.
Listen!
We need to listen.
Are we listening?
Please listen.
Listen to our ancestors.
Listen to the words of our distant ancestors.
Listen to the animals, to the trees, to the sky, to the oceans,
to the birds, to the insects, to each other!
Just listen.We are watching, not watching.
Seeing, not seeing.
We are thinking, not thinking.
Feeling, not feeling.
Listening. Not listening.What did we think was going to happen?
What right do they have to destroy the world?“Our House Is on Fire” – Greta Thunberg
“They are as children,
playing with their toys in a house on fire.” – Gautama Buddha
All around the world:
America, the Arctic, Siberia, Indonesia,
Brazil, Argentina, Australia.
Each and every country will suffer.
Each and every continent will burn.“A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
“We cannot say we love the land and then take steps to destroy it for use
by future generations.” – John Paul II
“The environment is where we all meet...
it is the one thing all of us share.” – Lady Bird Johnson
“The earth is what we all have in common.” – Wendell BerryIt begins with this: the climate is warming,
the world’s great ice sheets are melting,
and the water is rising.
“The floods have lifted up, O Lord,
the floods have lifted up their voice;
the floods lift up their roaring.” – Psalm 93:3
Will we recognize what is here when it is not here anymore?Every factory,
Every generator,
Every vehicle,
Every incinerator,
Every power plant.
The smog, the soot,
The gray sky overhead,
This should have told us
all we needed to know.We have forgotten how to be good guests,
how to walk lightly on the earth
as its other creatures do.
“Each morning, we are born again.
What we do today is what matters most.” – Buddha
“Keep close to Nature’s heart...
and break clear away...
climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods.
Wash your spirit clean.” – John MuirListen.
We need to listen.
We are listening.
Please listen.
Listen to our children.
Listen to our children’s children.
Listen to the animals, the trees, the sky, the oceans,
the birds, each other...
Just listen.The text for Listen consists of words by Robert Paterson, quotes from authors that are in the public domain, the title of the book Our House in on Fire by Greta Thunberg, and a quote reprinted with permission from the following source:
Copyright © 1977 by Wendell Berry, from The Unsettling of America. Reprinted by permission of Counterpoint Press.
Quotes
“Robert!! BRAVO!! It was such a pleasure to tune in last night to hear the premiere of “Listen”... a wonderful, heart-filled, challenging work. It was truly an honor to have my short “Meditation” serve as sort of a sonic “upbeat” for “Listen!” Your orchestrations had the chamber ensemble sounding like a full orchestra. A wonderfully successful work, from downbeat to double bar. Well done!! Hats off to you, and cheers from Canadaland.”