QUEUE THEORY.

QUEUE THEORY. is a song for baritone and piano inspired by the poem of the same name by Vanessa Napolitano. Drawing on themes in the text - particularly the act of queuing - the performers move through a queue-based system in which neither player may proceed until the other has finished. This structure creates an intimate, interdependent dialogue between the two musicians, allowing either performer to obstruct, manipulate, or facilitate the other’s progress.

The musical material likewise reflects imagery from the poem. Like Tetris blocks, a limited palette of musical shapes is presented, rotated, and reversed, producing a deliberately angular, stark, block-like character. – RC

Recording by Apple and Biscuit Recordings