Case Study
The Cantata, CASE STUDY, is taken from a newspaper article about a young woman who committed suicide in the 1970s. The article was written in the form of an interview with the woman’s parents. The woman's journal was found in the glove compartment of her car and excerpts from it were intermittently scattered throughout the article.
I was inspired to compose the piece because the parents said they wanted to help other people who might grapple with such tragedies in their families. With the exception of a few words or phrases which were deleted from the journal (to make the material more musically manageable), I quoted all of the libretto almost exactly from the article. The only changes made were the order of the parents comments, their names, and the sequence in which excerpts from the journal appeared. Throughout this entire piece the parents are represented as tape recorded voices who speak from the front two speakers. The daughter is represented by the vocal soloist (sung by an amazing vocalist named Vivian Robles). All seven Arias were composed from the journal entries, and are sung, with the exception of the fifth Aria (which is spoken). Accompaniment is provided by chamber orchestra, percussion ensemble, taped analog electronics, taped voices, dancer, and special lighting.*
I was inspired to compose the piece because the parents said they wanted to help other people who might grapple with such tragedies in their families. With the exception of a few words or phrases which were deleted from the journal (to make the material more musically manageable), I quoted all of the libretto almost exactly from the article. The only changes made were the order of the parents comments, their names, and the sequence in which excerpts from the journal appeared. Throughout this entire piece the parents are represented as tape recorded voices who speak from the front two speakers. The daughter is represented by the vocal soloist (sung by an amazing vocalist named Vivian Robles). All seven Arias were composed from the journal entries, and are sung, with the exception of the fifth Aria (which is spoken). Accompaniment is provided by chamber orchestra, percussion ensemble, taped analog electronics, taped voices, dancer, and special lighting.*
What you hear is the CASE STUDY as it was painstakingly assembled from reel-to-reel tape recordings. The score presented was hand-written ink on vellum paper with text printed with a Selectric typewriter and hand applied transfer rub-on letters! The nearly 20 minutes of analog electronics created with a massive Moog synthesizer should be of great interest to any fan of vintage analog electronic music. Please refer to the separate webpage describing the Electronics Booklet that provided detailed patch logs of the electronic sounds created for the CASE STUDY.
If this piece inspires you to think about the epidemic of suicide in our society, and if it touches you - as the story about this young woman touched me... then please donate money to your local suicide prevention center.
Please contact me directly if you wish to perform it so we can arrange for it be presented at benefits for suicide prevention efforts worldwide.
If this piece inspires you to think about the epidemic of suicide in our society, and if it touches you - as the story about this young woman touched me... then please donate money to your local suicide prevention center.
Please contact me directly if you wish to perform it so we can arrange for it be presented at benefits for suicide prevention efforts worldwide.
Tonality - 50%
Difficulty - Professional
Difficulty - Professional
"Case Study"