Whippoorwill

Lee, Joanna

About the work

whippoorwill was written as part of CoMA’s Open Score project.  The piece is an exploration of nine different spaces and places, indicated in the score by nine keywords which the performers place themselves in and explore through vocal performance.  The text by e.e.cummings is a kaleidoscope of words thrown at the reader, taking them through a whirlwind of spaces and places, which subsequently results in them not knowing which space or place they are actually in!  whippoorwill allows the performers to explore both their space through improvisation, which creates room in the text and therefore in its meaning, along with fixed notation that is performed exactly as written, putting the performers and listeners in an exact space and role with little space to manoeuvre.  Finally the performers explore the role of spaces and places in vocal music, for example in the physical act of singing, in the core vocal technique areas, and in the different styles of singing or pronunciation.

Origin

Call for Pieces Entry: Open score 2006

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