LILY of FORCE
for Kim
The Uncarved Block (1994)
Labyrinth Walk: In Memory of John Cage (1992/2012)
In a Landscape*+ (1948/2012)
Clearscape** (2012)
4’33”* (1952)
Absent Light: In Paradisum (2012)
Lento**
Circles (1994)
Los Cielos: Oaxaca (2008)
Labirinto d’Acqua**
Lily of Force (2009)
*******
Bill Whitley, Piano
Adam Bates, Vibes
Wagner Trindade, Bass
Tom Bergeron, Soprano Sax
Darrel Watson, Soprano Sax
Christopher Woitach, Guitar
Bethany Glasscock, Piano
Cassio Vianna, Celeste
Thomas Merton, Tenor Sax
St. Cecilia, Tanpura
*******
All works composed by Bill Whitley except:
* by John Cage
*+by John Cage, Arr. B. Whitley
** by Francesco Zago
Notes
The Uncarved Block (1994)
One of the basic principles of Taoism is P'U; the Uncarved Block. The essence
of the Uncarved Block is that things in their original simplicity contain their
own natural power, power that is easily spoiled and lost when that simplicity
is changed. This and “Circles” were both written shortly after finishing my
undergrad at Gonzaga. A tip of the hat to A.A. Milne…
Labyrinth Walk (1992/2012)
This piece was written shortly after John Cage died in 1992. I remember
thinking then that he had left us with a lot of work to do. All of his ideas still
seem fresh to me. One of his most important contributions came in utilizing
chance operations. In Cage’s honor, I composed 8 bars of meditative music
(similar to “In a Lanscape), then used a pair of dice to determine the rest.
“Labyrinths have been around for over 4000 years and are found in just
about every major religious tradition in the world. They have been an integral part
of many cultures such as Native American, Greek, Celtic and Mayan. The Hopi
called the labyrinth the symbol for "mother earth" and equated it with the Kiva.
Like Stonehenge and the pyramids, they are magical geometric forms that define
sacred space.
During the crusades, they were used to symbolically represent the pilgrimage to
the Holy Land. Today, labyrinths are being used for reflection, meditation, and
prayer. They are found in many sizes and shapes, and are created in sand,
cornmeal, flour, painted on canvas, fashioned with masking tape or string for a
temporary design, or built in a permanent fashion from stones, cut into turf,
formed by mounds of earth, made from vegetation, or any other natural material.
There are three basic designs -- seven circuit,
eleven circuit, and twelve circuit. These seven
circuit designs were found on pottery from over
2000 years ago. Chartres Cathedral at Chartres,
France is a very famous example of an eleven
circuit design, as seen to your right. One of the
most famous aspects of the cathedral in Chartres is
the spectacular rose window over the great west
doors. It has the same dimensions as the labyrinth
and is exactly the same distance up the west wall
as the labyrinth is laterally from the cathedral's main entrance below the window.
An imaginary cosmic hinge located where the doors and floor intersect would, if
closed, place the rose window directly on top of the labyrinth, thus the sparkling,
colored light of the window and the darkness of the labyrinthine pilgrimage are
combined.
Another more recent examples can be found at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco
and Christ the King Lutheran Church in Torrence, California. The eleven circuit,
or Maltese design, octagonal in shape, can be found at Amiens Cathedral in
France. The size of the design can range from a small design on a stone to over 40
feet in diameter.
Many people make the mistake of thinking a labyrinth and a maze are the same. A
maze has dead ends and many trick turns. A labyrinth has only one path leading to
the center and back out again. There are no dead ends.”
--http://www.angelfire.com/tn/SacredLabyrinth/
In a Landscape (1948/2012)
Composed in 1948 for piano or harp solo, this is one of Cage’s most enduring
meditative works. Though notated in ¾ meter, the work operates in a
rhythmic cycle of 45 beats (15+21+9). This is the piece I was thinking of
when I wrote Labyrinth Walk.
Clearscape (2012)
I was first introduced, via email, to Francesco Zago in 2010. I heard and
admired his work with his progressive rock band Yugen. As I was planning
this concert, I determined that I needed more works, and asked Francesco if
he had anything for us. He immediately sent two solo piano works, and a
couple of weeks later sent me “Clearscape”, which is written especially for
this program.
4’33” (1952)
The first time Cage mentioned the idea of a piece composed entirely of
silence was during a 1947 (or 1948) lecture at Vassar College. Cage told the
audience that he had "several new desires", one of which was
“to compose a piece of uninterrupted silence and sell it to Muzak Co. It
will be three or four-and-a-half minutes long—those being the standard
lengths of "canned" music and its title will be Silent Prayer…The ending will
approach imperceptibility.”
Cage felt that such a piece would be "incomprehensible in the Western
context," and was reluctant to write it down: "I didn't wish it to appear, even
to me, as something easy to do or as a joke. I wanted to mean it utterly and be
able to live with it."
For tonight’s performance, I asked my performers to “tacet” while they
imagine that the most beautiful piece they’ve ever heard is being played,
suggesting that properly executed, four minutes and thirty-three seconds of
silence could possibly be the most transforming musical experience they’ve
ever encountered.
Absent Light: In Paradisum (2004-2012)
This piece comes with an interesting story. In the fall of 2004, I had just started as
an interim, adjunct instructor of composition at WOU. At the time Keller, Tom, and
Diane had an ensemble called Sound Moves, and they asked me to write them a
piece. On November 2nd (All Souls Day), on my commute from Eugene—somewhere
between Junction City and Corvallis, on 99W—the idea came to me. By
Thanksgiving, the piece was finished.
Unfortunately, the idea of presenting these people (people I really wanted to
impress) with a work that consisted of four notes, which ‘evaporated’ into nothing
over the course of 15 minutes didn’t seem like the strongest move.
By December 1st, I had deleted the finale file, and recycled my sketches. I, sadly,
reported back to them that I had started a piece, but abandoned it.
The idea resurfaced again in 2006. I destroyed it again.
The idea resurfaced in 2008/2009. This time I kept the sketches, but deleted the
finale file.
The idea surfaced again in 2011, and is what prompted this program. I realized
what I was trying to do was, in essence, ‘get inside’ of that particular moment of
requiem liturgy when the casket is incensed, and the person’s life is given a “send
off”. The choir or cantor or priest chants “In paradisum”:
In Paradisum deducant te Angeli;
in tuo adventu suscipiant te Martyres,
et perducant te in civitatem sanctam Jerusalem
Chorus Angelorum te suscipiat,
et cum Lazaro quondam paupere,
aeternam habeas requiem.
May angels lead you into paradise;
may the martyrs receive you and lead you to the holy city of Jerusalem.
May the ranks of angels receive you, and with Lazarus, once a poor man,
may you have eternal rest.
After the tanpura begins, the pianist performs an alap. The “raga” is the Bmixolydian mode upon which “In paradisum” is composed. But instead of a gat and
tala, bells begin a rhythmic cycle of 63 beats (7+6+5+4+3+2+1+2+3+4+5+6), and
the pianist begins a loop, which gradually evaporates into the celeste (symbolism
intended). The offstage tenor instrument (tenor sax in this performance) intones a
phrase of “In paradisum” every 63 beats, and the soprano saxophone performs the
‘sadness’ motif (so, fa, mi) every 63 beats—each subsequent performance longer in
duration. (The idea here is that the saxophone player eventually runs out of
breath…symbolism intended…but Tom doesn’t ever run out of breath.)
Lento
The Circles (1994)
This piece, like “The Uncarved Block” is inspired by a meditation tool: this
time a Tibetan prayer wheel. There are four “wheels” in this piece. The two
primary ones at the center (one made of 9 beats, the other made of 4) come
in and out of phase with one another. Each time they do one of the two
“outer” circles begins. When the two outer circles start to collide, and the
piece becomes unplayable (by me), that’s when I stop.
Los Cielos: Oaxaca (2008)
In November of 2007, I went to Mexico with my family to work for an
organization that does a variety of charity projects. The work they do in
Oaxaca is to educate farmers on soil conservation. We helped harvest
squash, beans, and corn. This is my impression of that experience, and this
movement seemed to fit well with tonight’s program.
Labirinto d’Acqua
Lily of Force
This piece was completed in 2009, and is dedicated, as is tonight’s program,
to my wife Kim.
***WARNING: For music/number geeks only. Proceed With Caution!***
Lily of Force was inspired by Alexander Calder’s mobile of the same name. I
like the idea of putting musical materials into motion like animated objects.
This piece has three sections. In the first, I started with the pitches of my
wife’s and my daughters’ birth months (9,4,5), followed by my son’s and my
own (Ten). In the middle section, I tried to achieve an interval-class set that
contrasted as much as possible with the first. The third section is made up of
(surprise!) the balinesian gamelan mode, and the music (albeit three times
faster now) is identical to the first section. The tonal goal was to use up all
twelve tones.
Suggestions for Further Exploration
Books:
Cage, John. Silence
Hoff, Benjamin. The Tao of Pooh
Merton, Thomas. The Asian Journals of Thomas Merton
Milne, A.A. The World of Pooh
Recordings:
www.myspace.com/yugenband
www.cdbaby.com/cd/BillWhitley
Anything by John Cage
On Labyrinth Walks:
swww.sacredwalk.com/
www.angelfire.com/tn/SacredLabyrinth/
www.labyrinthsociety.org/virtual-labyrinth-walk
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labyrinth