Song
As a composer, my work generally fits into one of two streams of activity: my site-specific works for improvising musicians, and songs that set texts by published authors, to be sung by Susanna Hood in different contexts.
My most elaborate song project is The Muted Note (2011-15), a suite of eleven songs based on P.K. Page poems. Another suite, Applications, sets a nine-part poem by Robert Hass, “Applications of the Doctrine.” Applications was commissioned by the late Ken Aldcroft for his Convergence Ensemble with Susanna as a guest, but I have arranged its modular material for other ensembles, including just Susanna and me. As of 2023, we are reworking the suite as a duo for performance and recording.
“The self has agreed to lecture / before a psychoanalytic study group. / On the appointed day he / does not appear, thereby / meeting his obligation.” • From “Applications of the Doctrine,” in Field Guide (New Haven: Yale UP, 1973)