Italian Lesson (2025) 25'

program note

For Italian Lesson, written especially for Theatre of Voices, I set the poem, of the same name, by contemporary poet Cynthia Zarin. For texts in my other compositions, words have mostly been drawn from “literal” sources – speeches, newspaper articles, oral histories, lists of names, etc. But as I was considering what might be special for the transcendent sound of Theatre of Voices, I came across the poem Italian Lesson printed in a recent copy of The New Yorker. There it was – this joyful thing, full of wonder and awe, and half in Italian (which I studied when I first moved to New York.). The words are clear and direct – so in some ways not so different from my literal texts – but in other ways completely different. I thought about how the English and Italian suggest different rhythms, speeds, and colors. I added small sound-making objects and expressive gestures to the piece. After all – the group’s name is “Theater” of Voices. The piece, like the poem, traverses across different terrains, images, sensibilities. Sometimes I meditate on single phrases – other times the words and pitches develop into sonic textures and grooves. While the theater and clarity in the composition Italian Lesson relate to my recent large-scale oratorios, the intimacy of the ensemble, their ethereal voices, and the poetry, took me to fun, new, and unexpected worlds.