Program Note
At the beginning of 2009, I wanted to write a solo percussion piece, and to ease my way into it, I decided to use spoken text. Kendall A. wrote a sestina called “How to be a Deep Thinker in Los Angeles,” and with permission I was able to use it. A sestina is a highly-structured poem form consisting of six six-lined stanzas followed by a tercet for a total of thirty-nine lines. The same set of six words ends the lines of each of the six-line stanzas, but in a different order each time. These six words then appear in the tercet as well.
This structure creates a cyclical poem, and therefore, the poem creates a cyclical piece. Each percussion instrument is specifically used to match certain events in the poem, and the listener can track the rotations.
The text for this piece is taken from the poem “How to be a Deep Thinker in Los Angeles” by Kendall A. Copyright © 2000 by Kendall A (BMI). All rights reserved.
— Jennifer Jolley
This structure creates a cyclical poem, and therefore, the poem creates a cyclical piece. Each percussion instrument is specifically used to match certain events in the poem, and the listener can track the rotations.
The text for this piece is taken from the poem “How to be a Deep Thinker in Los Angeles” by Kendall A. Copyright © 2000 by Kendall A (BMI). All rights reserved.
— Jennifer Jolley
Reproduction Notice:
This program note may be freely reproduced in concert programs, provided that proper credit is given to the composer.
This program note may be freely reproduced in concert programs, provided that proper credit is given to the composer.