Cycle of Dust

ENS.2010.2 | 11′
Poem by James Tate
Baritone & Cello

Score

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James Tate’s extraordinary recent poems do not generally lend themselves to the Shanfield treatment, as they are usually comprise lengthy, arrhythmic chunks of text. In fact I have had at least one really interesting discussion with a poet about whether they are even poems at all. The earlier Cycle of Dust, however, consists instead of nine brief parts, which is better suited to my compositional temperament.

Each song explores a different musical texture: unisons, rhythmic displacement, passages alternating between smooth bowing and rhythmic pizzicato, open strings, pulses, figuration, arpeggios, glissandos, and double-stops. In that order.