I heard your preview aria from your new opera and am quite pleased at your new direction.
Might I remind you to please not be overly influenced by Philip Glass, and his habit of getting “stuck” in one register when composing for the keyboard. Look at the piano music I have written and especially Claude’s brilliant Preludes. In fact, I encourage you to set aside some time to compose your own set of preludes, much like Billy Joel did.
I hope that your entire opera does not “hover” as much as this little jewel does. I encourage you to explore textures that you have never worked in. Learn how to compose a scherzo; a vivace section, like Vivaldi would; a gripping allegro; a captivating fugato (I don’t care about fugues for the most part), but especially get away from the omnipresent homophonic writing that exemplifies so much of your attempts at bridging classical music. You have a terrific sense of melody and harmony, but only a so-so sense of counterpoint. Learn how to make harmonic motion turn into a sea of individual voices. Discover other strong textures besides the Kleinian “wall of sound.”
Critics may tar you with the same brush that they did with Claude’s “Pelleas” — complaining about a lack of action. Be strong, my boy, be strong. Don’t let good reviews get you fat, and bad reviews get you down. Trust your momentum.
Best of luck with the premieres of your new opera. A very exciting time, indeed!
Paul Monette heard the premiere of HIDDEN LEGACIES in Royce Hall and rushed up to me afterwords to thank John and me. I saw him socially a few times later and asked him whether he was interested in providing lyrics for a piece for GMCLA. His energy was limited at this time and though he said he wanted to, I didn’t think it was ever going to happen. I later suggested finding something from his extant works, and he like the idea. I excerpted part of the introduction from ELEGIES FOR ROG and set it for unaccompanied men’s chorus, calling it “All there is is love” which is the final line in the text.
Paul and Winston, and Bruce and I went to the premiere. Three if us went in black tie (Paul’s idea); Winston was in full leather. It was a lovely evening and a lovely memory. This performance is from the April 4, 1993 performance in the Wiltern Theater, Jon Bailey conducting.
All there is is love
Music: Roger Bourland
Text: Paul Monette
Jon Bailey conducts the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles
Published by Yelton Rhodes Music, Los Angeles.
Chuck White, recording
“The story that endlessly eludes the press is the death of a generation of gay men. [Amen] What is written here is only [We are talking about] one man’s passing and one man’s cry, a warrior burying a warrior. May it fuel the fire of those on the front lines who mean to prevail, and of their friends who stand in the fire with them. We will not be bowed down or erased by this. I learned too well wht it means to be a people, learned in the joy of my best friend what all the meaningless pain and horror cannot take away––that all there is is love. Pity us not.”
After the success of HIDDEN LEGACIES I received a commission from Richard Garrin and the Windy City Gay Chorus for a similar orchestration addressing the possible futures of gays and lesbians. I chose eight poets (seven living), each who either contributed a new poem or selected an old one for the set.
The piece got a warm reception at the premiere but has never been performed since. All the original synthesizers are no longer in production, so the work would have to be re-orchestrated to get it back on its feet. The recording you will hear here is problematic because of the enormous auditorium (Medinah Temple) we played in and what I assume was the air conditioning on a very hot day. Nonetheless, you’ll get an idea of how the piece goes.
LETTERS TO THE FUTURE (1993)
1. Song of God B (Merrill)
Music: Roger Bourland
Poetry: James Merrill, May Swenson, Thom Gunn, Francisco X Alarcon, JD McClatchy, bell hooks, Allen Ginsburg, Adrienne Rich
Richard Garrin conducts the Windy City Gay Chorus (June 1994)
Published by Yelton Rhodes Music, Los Angeles
LETTERS TO THE FUTURE (the poems)
(1) Song of God Biology
IVE BROTHERS HEAR ME
BROTHERS SIGNAL ME
ALONE IN MY NIGHT
BROTHERS DO YOU WELL
I AND MINE
HOLD IT BACK
BROTHERS I AND MINE
SURVIVE
SISTERS HEAR ME
SIGNAL ME
DO YOU WELL
I AND MINE
HOLD IT BACK
I ALONE IN MY NIGHT
SISTERS I AND MINE
SURVIVE
SISTERS DO YOU WELL
I ALONE IN MY NIGHT
I HOLD IT BACK
I AND MINE
SURVIVE
BROTHERS SIGNAL ME
IN MY NIGHT
I AND MINE
HOLD IT BACK
AND WE SURVIVE
Music: Roger Bourland
Lyrics: John Hall
Jon Bailey conducts the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles
Live at the Wiltern, April 11, 1992
GMCLA’s performances of HIDDEN LEGACIES
March 29, 1992 — Royce Hall
April 11, 1992 — Wiltern Theater
April 12, 1992 — Bridges Hall of Music, Pomona College
June 27, 1992 — Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, Dallas
July 2, 1992 — Boettcher Concert Hall, Denver (GALA IV)
July 3, 1992 — Temple Buell Theater, Denver (GALA IV)
October 30, 1992 — First Congregational Church, Long Beach
November 1, 1992 — Westwood United Methodist Church
November 2, 1992 — All Saints Episcopal Church, Pasadena
November 7 & 8, 1992 — Recording sessions, Capital Records Studios
Composer Roger Bourland Talks about “Hidden Legacies”
Background: Roger Bourland is the Chair of the Composition program at the UCLA Department of Music. In September of 1990, he was commissioned by the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles to compose a major choral work that dealt with the AIDS crisis. The lyrics were written by his UCLA colleague, John Hall.
The commission
Jon Bailey, the artistic director and conductor of the chorus, stipulated that for this commission he did not want a requiem, or a work that only dealt with grief and despair, but rather a work that was truly life affirming. My friend and colleague John Hall agreed to write the lyrics but realized what an enormous responsibility it would be to try to speak for the 165 men in the GMCLA, who have already lost over 70 members to AIDS. The collaboration that took place over the next year evolved into “Hidden Legacies” – a 40 minute cantata in seven movements scored for four synthesizers, bass guitar, drums, and men’s chorus.
The story
Hidden Legacies is a tribute to those who are living with HIV, those left behind, and those who have offered help in times of intense sorrow. The first two movements are historically based upon what occurred just before and just after the discovery of “the gay cancer.” The following five movements are from the various points of view of the chorus itself.
Because Vox Femina so loved “Both page and pen” and its erotic imagery, I decided to turn up the erotic flame just a tad in Alarcon Madrigals, Book 3. Commissioned again by Vox Femina, this set was written in Hawaii and you can find diary entries for working on the piece within this blog. You’ll hear some country twang in “Like a crazed flower,” and a reference to the final number of book 1 (”I learned Spanish from my grandma…”) closes Book 3, and bookends the set of three books.
Presently (July 2009) I am finishing a new set of madrigals for Vox based on the poetry of Eloise Klein Healy that turns up the erotic flame even higher.
In the late 1990’s, a new women’s chorus was formed in Los Angeles by Iris Levine (Chair, Pomona College, Dept of Music) called Vox Femina. In their early days they sang some of my Dickinson Madrigals and a few of the numbers from Alarcon Madrigals, Book 1. Book 2 was commissioned by Vox Femina and was recorded on their “Simply” CD in 2002.
We have developed a marvelous relationship since then. They commissioned two more pieces after this one. Their favorite piece of this set has been “Both page and pen” — an erotic number that is fun to sing. This set is a bit less Spanish sounding, carrying on the language set in motion in the Dickinson Madrigals.
I first got to know the poet Francisco X Alarcon working on LETTERS TO THE FUTURE. Adrienne Rich had suggested I seek him out. I have always resonated with the joy and color in his poetry. He prints his poetry with an English version on one side and Spanish on the other. And even though I don’t have an ounce of Latin blood, he makes me feel like one when I set his words.
The outer pieces are about two of his family members: his grandmother (1) and his magical memories of her; and his sister (5) who stood up to their father refusing to do the dishes. The inner three are less peppy character studies, but are more color pieces that celebrate the Mexican-American flavor I get from Alarcon’s poetry.
1. In a neighborhood in LA
2. Un beso is not a kiss
3. Tan real
4. Antiqua cancion
5. A small but fateful victory
Music: Roger Bourland
Poetry: Francisco X Alarcon
Vance Wolverton conducts the CalState Fullerton Women’s Chorus
Published by Yelton Rhodes Music, Los Angeles.
Francisco X Alarcon (image by geminipoet from Flickr)
In “Garden Abstract” I figured out how to weave voices together in a better harmonic way, making it easier to sing. The piece was premiered on a graduate composers concert at the New England Conservatory in 1977 and my colleagues actually liked it. The faculty liked it by choosing for performance at the commencement, the performance you hear here. The women singing it are all opera divas and brought their skill to each interwoven line. They were ON for this performance.
In the Hart Crane poem, the intoxicating hook for me was the image of Eve looking at the apple with great desire and lust; that hovering, dreamlike, and almost uncontrollable feeling one gets.
This was the last gnarly piece for chorus I composed. After this, I switched to the language of the Dickinson Madrigals (see below).
Garden Abstract (1976)
SSSAAA
Music: Roger Bourland
Poetry: Hart Crane
Conductor: Thomas Toscano; NEC grad students
Publisher: Yelton Rhodes Music, Los Angeles
This piece should be put in my folder called “juvenilia.” I was an ardent anti-tonalist here, my heroes late Stravinsky sacred choral music, and Ligeti’s “Requiem.” Each movement explores a different kind of cloud phenomenon aurally. The first: cirrus clouds as whispers; second: the staggering beauty of the Great Red Spot against Jupiter and a feeling of hovering; and finally, a Swedenborgian (yes, I was reading him at that time) cloud of angels creating a choral texture not unlike Stravinsky’s eccentric 12-part interludes in “Requiem Canticles.”
I can’t guarantee all will like this piece, but for the record, here it is.
For this set I decided to try SATB, as the last two had been for women’s chorus. This set has four movements, where the other two have five, and to my ears it matches the other two in shape and style. I cut the fifth movement because it was just too dorky. I’ll leave swing choir music to those that know how to do it.
I wrote this set for my late friend and colleague, Donn Weiss who ran the choral program at UCLA for decades.
This was the black sheep of the set for me. The fact that I so disliked the fifth movement left an icky film on the others. Now that I hear this set twenty two years later, the set of four works just fine.
I have no plans to do a Book IV, but you never know.
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In “Garden Abstract” I figured out how to weave voices together in a better harmonic way, making it easier to sing. The piece was premiered on a graduate composers concert at the New England Conservatory in 1977 and my colleagues actually liked it. The faculty liked it by choosing for performance at the commencement, the performance you hear here. The women singing it are all opera divas and brought their skill to each interwoven line. They were ON for this performance.
