Some Details of Hell
[Click image to view sample PDF score]
(soprano, alto flute, clarinet, piano, cello), text by Lucie Brock-Broido, 15 min., 2006. Premiered by Ensemble Dal Niente, Carrie Henneman Shaw, soprano, Michael Lewanski, conductor, Chicago, IL.
Ensemble Dal Niente (14’26”)
The song Some Details of Hell is a semi-staged setting of the Lucie Brock-Broido poem of the same title from her collection Trouble in Mind. In order to highlight the emotion of the text and to create various sonic possibilities, the performers are asked to move through various stations as the piece progresses.
The first and last sections of the piece use a microtonal scale that was derived from the resonance created by the low B sustained in the piano. This note is held through the use of a piece of magnetic tape tied to the string, which is rubbed in order to create a bowed effect.
Some Details of Hell
Semi-staged performance following the composers directions by the SKIN Ensemble at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, February 6, 2010. Lorena Guillén, soprano; Carla Copeland-Burns, alto flute; Jonathan Salter, clarinet; Grace Anderson, cello; and James Douglass, piano.
