SHAKER LOOPS

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Dobrinka Tabakova Such Different Paths 17’
Kaija Saariaho Terra Memoria 20’

String ensemble

Rakhi Singh Violin
Julian Azkoul Violin
Alex Mitchell Viola
Alice Purton Cello
Beibei Wang Percussion

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HUGH MORRIS

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HUGH MORRIS

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HUGH MORRIS

John Adams, ‘Shaker Loops’

String trio, 2002

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ACT I; GENESIS

the towns waters; no longer used for baptism
crucified new to the caw of commerce
see the river quickens, see the river blackens
soon the space between the houses will closen

not long since bodies still swung limpen
from the neck
over a lame lamb, beer turned sour, a daughter disappeared

when folk trusted in the wildness of their own visions
that come in raids over ginnel walls
or in float fastened fog atop moorland peat
awaiting the seekers witness
to scythe open the smog and the suffering
before the coming provocation of concrete

a study in discovering sustenance together
be pulled towards one another
through shared seeking dissatisfaction
to unearth those languages that exist beyond these words
in spare rooms where no rooms are spare
searching, seeking, reaching
in thrall
heads blown, limbs flailing
the heart awash with the whole of it

when new things are birthed
from being torn from another
Ann Lee; Seer
Ann Lee; God The Mother

ACT II; EXODUS

the provocation of concrete is now in bloom
the endless bankrupt brick blossom
the architects; they tore building from meaning
like a demolition

rising like dust
the scientists they spoke;
God has no equation, so he is not there
but the good book is riddled with number
like the mathematics of music
and yet it still cannot be weighed
so what happens after the shaking ends?
the old stories; swapped
for the nag nag nag of notification
laconic sabbaths in shopping cathedrals
one hundred thousand aeroplanes
whip the heavens constant
atop an ever searching sea of weekend
atop weekend atop weekend

nature itself is the final war
i demand an eye that never blinks
why must we suffer sleep
bloodied tears fall and stain the shirt
as i pick at the loose stitching
lifting the thread between thumb and nail
pulling lengths of cotton away
away decay away

ACT III; REVELATION

Night’s silvery starts melt in the morning’s soft blushes
6am the city still i feast on its waking cinema like breakfast
The sun gilds the hills in golden ecru edging
Sedate estate air lined with ruby red brushstroke
We gracefully share of life’s bounties external
Bored spectral shadows glide noiseless away
Glazen the moors where the early mist lay
Come like a day dream, nor yet come to stay
Great oak waves stoic in the town’s cobbled square
Our natures swathed in their deep reverent hushes
Awakes to the call of the woodland and meadow
Call to our loved ones and recall those now breathless
Echoing the eternal parade of the seasons
From brook and from fountain come voices of welcome
To look beyond to that region where the supernatural lay
Where beameth forever a beautiful day