June 21st 2017 (premiere)
The TANK in Rangley, CO
vocal octet and field recording
(written for Roomful of Teeth)
7′
“Premiered at the TANK Center for Sonic Arts during a Summer Solstice concert, it starts out like a Christmas carol and achieves a Tallis-like ecstasy before ending in pale violet sadness.”
PROGRAM NOTE
I happened to be in Paris this past Easter Sunday morning, and while I was at a café three different churches within earshot started chiming to call everyone to mass. Amazing rhythms started to phase in and out of each other, so I ran outside with my phone and recorded it. This became the inspiration for “Ring Out, Wild Bells”, which is also a poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson (published in 1850, yet still very relevant today) that accurately sums up what I wish to see in the world.
For musical reasons, I have extracted the following text and sequenced it differently from the original poem. I have also extracted a section of my original recording of the bells and looped it. The ensemble should accompany this track for the middle section of the piece.
It was an honor to have Roomful of Teeth bring this to life at the TANK’s Summer Solstice concert in Rangely, CO in 2017.
TEXT
Ring…Ring out…
Ring out Wild Bells to Wild Sky!
The flying cloud, the frosty light,
the year is dying,
dying in the night.
Ring Out!
the false
the grief
the want
foul disease
lust of gold
wars of old
the coldness of the times
ring out my mournful rhymes
(the year is going!)
here we see no more
feud of rich or poor
(let him go!)
Ring out false pride!
in place and blood!
Ring in the love!
Ring in the love of truth and right
Ring in the common love of good
Ring in the valiant man
and free the larger heart
the kindlier hand
all that is true
the thousand years of peace
happy bells across the snow
Ring in the true
to the Wild Sky