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Solo
2023
Electronics
Soprano
- Program Notes
- Little Funny Things Ceaselessly Happening was composed in the winter of 2022 and spring of 2023 at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. The text is adapted from Hope Mirrless’ “Paris: A Poem,” written in 1919. It follows the speaker as they take a day trip through post-WWI Paris, first taking the Line 12 up to the Concord Station, then through various French landmarks in the area, ending as the sun rises. The poem is very jagged and striking, with lots of different typefaces freely mixed together, and even about 8 bars of sheet music. It is one of the earliest examples of modernist poetry, predating T. S. Eliot's "The Wasteland" by about 3 years. There is even some evidence to suggest that Eliot was aware of it and that it might have influenced him. The musical setting which I have created combines the jaggedness of material with the poem's extensive use of quotation to guide the listener on a walk through 1919 Paris. Thank you to Levi Spanarella and Aida Baserehkasmaei for providing their voices for the fixed media.
- Recording Notes
- Performed Live November 16th, 2023 in Hatch Hall at the Eastman School of Music
- Performer Credits
- Mary Fetterman - Soprano