for good measure

Steve Reich's The Desert Music w/ verse from William Carlos Williams' collection of the same name...

Composer's Notes
The Desert Music was begun September 1982 and completed in December 1983. It was commissioned by The West German Radio, Cologne and The Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York. It is a setting of parts of poems by the American poet William Carlos Williams. The duration is 46 minutes.

The title is taken from Dr. Williams’ book of collected poems, The Desert Music. From this collection I chose parts of The Orchestra and Theocritus: Idyl I – A version from the Greek. From another collection I chose a small part of Asphodel, That Greeny Flower. There are no complete poems used and the arrangement of parts is my own. This arrangement was my first compositional activity and the form of the piece into a large arch follows the text, presented below:

I – fast

"Begin, my friend
                 for you cannot,
                                  you may be sure,
take your song,
                 which drives all things out of mind,
                                  with you to the other world."
                                                                    from: Theocritus: Idyl I – A version from the Greek

II – moderate

                                  "Well, shall we
think or listen? Is there a sound addressed
                 not wholly to the ear?
                                  We half close
our eyes. We do not
                 hear it through our eyes.
                                  It is not
a flute note either, it is the relation
                 of a flute note
                                  to a drum. I am wide
awake. The mind
                 is listening."
                                                                    from: The Orchestra

III A – slow

"Say to them:
Man has survived hitherto because he was too ignorant to know how to realize his wishes. Not that he can realize them, he must either change them or perish."
                                                                    from: The Orchestra

III B – moderate

                                  "it is a principle of music
to repeat the them. Repeat
                 and repeat again,
                                  as the pace mounts. The
theme is difficult
                 but no more difficult
                                  than the facts to be
resolved."
                                                                    from: The Orchestra

III C – slow

"Say to them:
Man has survived hitherto because he was too ignorant to know how to realize his wishes. Not that he can realize them, he must either change them or perish."
                                                                    from: The Orchestra

IV – moderate

                                  "Well, shall we
think or listen? Is there a sound addressed
                 not wholly to the ear
                                  We half close
our eyes. We do not
                 hear it through our eyes.
                                  It is not
a flute not either, it is the relation
                 of a flute note
                                  to a drum. I am wide
awake. The mind
                 is listening."
                                                                    from: The Orchestra

V – fast

"Inseperable from the fire
                 its light
                                  takes precedence over it.
Who most shall advance the light –
                 call it what you may!"
                                                                    from: Asphodel, That Greeny Flower