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The Answer to The Question That Wings Ask

from Hazy Heart Pump by Ted Hearne

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THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION THAT WINGS ASK
notes by Anne Leilehua Lanzilotti

Saul Williams speaks in poetry. When I asked him about The Answer to the Question That Wings Ask—set by Ted for string quartet and voice—Saul said,

It is a pondering of questions and a birdseye view on all of those things that are running through the mind—and that societal mind. The questions surrounding identity, the questions surrounding society, the questions surrounding time. All of those questions, all of that pondering—while simultaneously being dazzled by birds, the question of The Butterfly Effect. And it has to do with kind of what I’m doing now: sitting in the park, watching this guy walk his dog . . .

Saul begins to describe his surroundings and I feel as though I am sitting on the bench next to him, listening to the resonance of his voice, stopped in time. He’s describing such basic things, and yet the way he observes, the way he leaves space for me to be in that same place of observation draws me into the world on the other end of the phone. Saul continues, “That’s the goal of the writer: to find a universal means of expression that can work in different settings, in different means of interpretation.”

Ted wrote this setting with Saul’s voice in mind, supporting it with various framings. Often the quartet reflects the iterative nature of the text. Other times a single player supports Saul’s voice by mimicking the speech rhythms, then all at once the floor drops out and the quartet hovers in a fragile sustained chord with light bow pressure as though doubting their own sound. Saul adds:

At the end of the day it has to do with our ability to dance through things. This is life and life is a dance. And it’s a dance through all these wonderful and not so wonderful realities. And I have some questions.

credits

from Hazy Heart Pump, released October 25, 2019
Saul Williams, voice

Mivos Quartet
Olivia De Prato, violin
Lauren Cauley, violin
Victor Lowrie, viola
Mariel Roberts, cello

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Ted Hearne Los Angeles, California

Ted Hearne is a composer, singer and bandleader.

The New York Times has praised. Hearne for his "tough edge and wildness of spirit," and "topical, politically sharp-edged works." Pitchfork called Hearne's work "some of the most expressive socially engaged music in recent memory -- from any genre." ... more

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