The Parent Machine
(1995) 4:00
(SATB Chorus)
Commissioned by the Adams Middle School Chorus, Guilford, Connecticut, Amanda Wallner, Music Director
The students of Adams Middle School were asked for their ideas on a text for this commissioned composition and they produced a list of things that parents say to kids; a list of both good and bad things. Each saying was dissected for its accent and syllable scheme which suggested a specific rhythmic pattern, then each rhythmic pattern was paired with a melody. The snippets of melody are set in contrapuntal combinations.
The "Parent" Machine is one of those fortune telling machines at fairs that spit out fortunes (often manned by turbaned mystics). Imagine a machine that provided the "comfort" of parental praise for 25¢; you put in your money and out comes the fortune, "You're a good boy." The composition begins with The "Parent" Machine whirring into life, as indicated by a series of machine sounds from the chorus. After the machinery is warmed up, there is a "ding," just like the fortune machines at the fairs, and out comes the first parental fortune-- "you're a good boy," "good girl," "remember no matter what, I'll always love you," "as long as you tried hardest," etc. After some unctuously sweet parental stuff, the machine whirs into action again and things begin to go wrong! Out comes "You're daddy's little girl, you're grounded!" The machine has turned mean and will eventually crank out such epithets as "You can't get something for nothing," which combines contrapuntally with "Good Girl, Good Boy" to produce "You can't get something...Good...for nothing.. .Boy!" By the time the machine is finished, the chorus has presented (in rhythmic fugue) the following invectives:
Good night Sweetheart.
My Little Princess.
I believe in you.
Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite.
No matter what, remember that I always love you.
You're such a big help. As long as you tried your hardest.
Just wait until you have kids.
Daddy's little girl.
You're grounded.
What's the magic word?
It's all fun until someone pokes out an eye.
Clean your room.
Your room is a pigpen.
When I was your age, I had to walk 10 miles to school in the snow, uphill both ways.
The piano is used very little--here and there to provide machine noise, here and there to present a change of mode. Mainly it is a percussion instrument.
This piece contains changing modes, highly syncopated rhythms, phonetic sounds and non-word rhythmic noises, four-part harmony, and a dense polyphonic fugue, all combined in a pseudo-popular style with little pieces of Broadway ballad, Bobby McFerrin-like voice rhythms, and onomatopoetic utterances.
(1995) 4:00
(SATB Chorus)
Commissioned by the Adams Middle School Chorus, Guilford, Connecticut, Amanda Wallner, Music Director
The students of Adams Middle School were asked for their ideas on a text for this commissioned composition and they produced a list of things that parents say to kids; a list of both good and bad things. Each saying was dissected for its accent and syllable scheme which suggested a specific rhythmic pattern, then each rhythmic pattern was paired with a melody. The snippets of melody are set in contrapuntal combinations.
The "Parent" Machine is one of those fortune telling machines at fairs that spit out fortunes (often manned by turbaned mystics). Imagine a machine that provided the "comfort" of parental praise for 25¢; you put in your money and out comes the fortune, "You're a good boy." The composition begins with The "Parent" Machine whirring into life, as indicated by a series of machine sounds from the chorus. After the machinery is warmed up, there is a "ding," just like the fortune machines at the fairs, and out comes the first parental fortune-- "you're a good boy," "good girl," "remember no matter what, I'll always love you," "as long as you tried hardest," etc. After some unctuously sweet parental stuff, the machine whirs into action again and things begin to go wrong! Out comes "You're daddy's little girl, you're grounded!" The machine has turned mean and will eventually crank out such epithets as "You can't get something for nothing," which combines contrapuntally with "Good Girl, Good Boy" to produce "You can't get something...Good...for nothing.. .Boy!" By the time the machine is finished, the chorus has presented (in rhythmic fugue) the following invectives:
Good night Sweetheart.
My Little Princess.
I believe in you.
Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite.
No matter what, remember that I always love you.
You're such a big help. As long as you tried your hardest.
Just wait until you have kids.
Daddy's little girl.
You're grounded.
What's the magic word?
It's all fun until someone pokes out an eye.
Clean your room.
Your room is a pigpen.
When I was your age, I had to walk 10 miles to school in the snow, uphill both ways.
The piano is used very little--here and there to provide machine noise, here and there to present a change of mode. Mainly it is a percussion instrument.
This piece contains changing modes, highly syncopated rhythms, phonetic sounds and non-word rhythmic noises, four-part harmony, and a dense polyphonic fugue, all combined in a pseudo-popular style with little pieces of Broadway ballad, Bobby McFerrin-like voice rhythms, and onomatopoetic utterances.