An insistent number, written as I was enjoying a new piano.

Ah, there’s nothing like a violin duet.  I wrote six of them in 1990; here’s how the first begins.

Those of you who enjoyed Bill Irwin’s show The Regard of Flight may be interested in this antique document. This was the first stirring of it, back in 1977 in San Francisco.  At this point, it was only Bill and me, but Michael had a piece on the other half of the program. As usual, I was called upon to letter the program. The critic for the Bay Guardian (nameless here) was none too pleased; but I’ll post her review, since it gives some idea of how we started. Fortunately, the piece had a longer life than she predicted.

“En Route” sets my adaptations of three poems by Blaise Cendrars.  The piano part is based on 4-pitch diatonic chords, which are manipulated in various ways.  In this first one, chance procedures determined the direction, duration, and key of each arpeggio.  The violin and voice parts were written over that, using the three pitches left over from each chord.

The second uses treble piano chords and violin harmonics; the third is a canon between voice and violin, with large seven-pitch chords played on the piano with a board studded with push-pins.

The texts:

1.
Everyone talks about sunsets
Travelers always talk about the sunsets here
There are lots of books that just describe the sunsets
The sunsets of the tropics
Yes it’s true they’re splendid
But I much prefer the sunrise
The dawn
I don’t miss a single one
I’m always on deck naked
And I’m always the only one to admire them
But I’m not going to describe the sunrises
I’m going to keep them for myself

2.
The sea is still sea-blue
The weather is still the finest weather I’ve ever known at sea
The crossing is still the calmest and most uneventful that one could imagine

3.
We don’t want to be sad
It’s too simple
It’s too dumb
It’s too convenient
There are too many reasons for it
It’s so easy
Everybody’s sad
We don’t want to be sad anymore

For this one, back in San Francisco in 1977, I provided text pieces to accompany two of Betsy’s dances: “Never” and “Frame.”  I also sang a couple of songs, and played some ambient piano music for the pre-show and post-show.  And I also drew the program, which I often did back then.

This “Aubade” is quieter than most.  I don’t want to wake the lovers too harshly.  A simple tune repeats, gathering more counterpoint, until it fades away.  Here’s the beginning; sh.

I don’t remember much about this exhibition. Or the party, for that matter. Terri Hanlon went on to form the Eva Sisters, with Fern Friedman and Deborah Slater; they put on some lively shows back then.