The Listeners

The Listeners

instrumentation: 2 oboes, 1 bassoon, 2 trumpets, timpani, keyboard (orig. harpsichord and organ for 1 player, but piano works in modern settings, or "a vintage Fender Rhodes would be dope"), strings, SATB chorus, and 2 vocal soloists. (NOTE: there is also pre-recorded audio playback as part of the work)

duration: 40'

premiere: 17 October 2019 at Herbst Theater in San Francisco, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale, Nicholas McGegan, conductor

Commissioned by the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale, and the North Carolina Symphony

PROGRAM NOTE:

"Our planet is a lonely speck in the enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity. In all this vastness. To me, this... underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish The Pale Blue Dot. The only home we've ever known." -Carl Sagan

Initially inspired by the Golden Record that was sent on the Voyager probe back in the 1970s, The Listeners grew out of my long relationship with Philharmonia Baroque.  I wanted to explore how we look out at the universe, and how we think about the music that we make, and why we record things. The Golden Record, with its intent to introduce extraterrestrials to our culture, begins with greetings in 55 different languages from the earth. This spirit of both exploration and invitation led me to a more internal gaze, pondering the wonderment of the human condition and actually looking inward at ourselves as people and thinking about whether we are truly kind to each other.