untitled two

composed last summer:

"untitled two"

contributions to an analysis of the sensations

I know this goes somewhere into the opera "Ophélie", I'm not sure where yet.

contributions to the analysis of the sensations

in the stillness of an august morning

"in the stillness of an august morning" a composition from 2009

How the opera "Ophélie" is structured.

The modern jazz opera "Ophélie", in progress, has some of the structural features of a jazz combo. This facilitates things that are going on in the lyrics and narrative, and the harmony relations among the singers and the musicians.

The relationship between the chorus ensemble and the soloists, and among the chorus singers, is philosophical. Each of the chorus members has solos, and all of the soloists take turns as part of the chorus. The singers move harmonically like members of a jazz combo: now taking lead, now adapting to a role in the chord voicing and rhythm that compliments what the other singers are doing. And they are answering each other regarding points they are making in the lyrics. That is why I call the lyric relationship "philosophical". They are trying to speak to each other, and not always succeeding, because they are exploring what is going on in their individual minds at the same time as they are trying to be available to receive what someone else is searching for in their individual mind. This requires a level, a depth of listening, that good jazz players, great jazz players, develop among each other, a kind of informed listening that allows one to hear what is inside one's self. At the same time one is attentive to what is unpredictably coming from fellow players, as in intimate conversation. It is a learned kind of trust, among the players.