NEW WORLD SUITE No. 3, Part 1: ALL THE DESANCTIFIED PLACES

Composer's Note:

New World Suite No. 3, a singular poetic achievement by the great Canadian poet Robert Bringhurst, is subtitled “Four Movements for Three Voices.” He intended that the poem be performed by three speakers, reading simultaneously. Their different parts are laid out on the page in successive “staves” indicating their contrapuntal relationships, much like a musical score. Metaphorically, Bringhurst identified the voices as violin, viola, and cello. My composition takes that suggestion literally, translating the poem for a string trio in which the musicians speak Bringhurst’s words while playing.