May 15 & 16: Earned (a world premiere)What is the supreme law of the land? What do we call the first ten amendments to the Constitution? How many amendments does the Constitution have? What is the economic system in the United States? What stops one branch of government from becoming too powerful? How many U.S. Senators are there? Name your U.S. Representative… These are just a few of the questions that you might find on the new version of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services Naturalization Test. When approached in March 2008 about a possible commission for Community MusicWorks, local composer Anthony Green was inspired to imagine a double string quartet for the Providence String Quartet and the CMW Fellows Quartet (made up of the four participants in CMW's Fellowship Program) that would feature the topic of immigration. Thanks to a grant from the Argosy Foundation Contemporary Music Fund, CMW was able to commission two works for the Providence String Quartet to perform during our 08-09 season. [Read more here about the other new work–an octet by Daniel Bernard Roumain for the PSQ and four students which was premiered last October–here.]
The text for Anthony’s piece comes directly from the questions on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services naturalization exam that immigrants must take in their quest for citizenship. A narrator speaks a question or a set of questions slowly throughout the work, allowing the listener time to reflect on required knowledge for immigrants. The title of the piece – Earned – was derived from Anthony’s observation that American citizenship is a luxury for those born in the United States. For everyone else, it is earned. Anthony’s composition consists of a blend of original music with folk songs, children's songs, and national anthems from many countries. The themes are woven together in a contrapuntal framework, just as the culture of the United States itself is woven from many different cultures and traditions. In the end, Earned attempts to increase our awareness of the shared human experience, by traversing boundaries of language, culture, and citizenship through the common language of music. Here are links to YouTube videos (provided by Anthony) of a few of the folk songs and anthems contained within Earned: 1. El pueblo unido jamas sera vencido 3. Plum Blossom 6. Arirang 7. Sweet Mother 8. Shumba |
