The Gleam sets a poem by contemporary poet Robin Myers of the same name. Myers's poem encapsulates what it means to be alive now, from the vulgarity of what we may encounter every day—

 

"We shove our men into a ring

and they shove each other until they bleed and swell.

We boil lobsters alive [...]

We strike pedestrians, who die instantly.

We die instantly."

 

—to the beauty that also threads our daily lives:

 

"...Yet it’s also true

that we pull softened butter across a slice of bread

with a softened knife.

We entrust our bones to bus drivers,

the napes of our necks to hair-cutters,

the lobes of our ears to the cloudy mouths

of lovers who may love us or not love us

but touch us as if they could..."

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—and finally to a reconciliation of the two. (Read the full text for The Gleam here.)

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This piece was commissioned by CHAI Collaborative Ensemble and premiered with soprano Gillian Hollis in Chicago, IL in May 2018. The Gleam is available for soprano & piano or for soprano & chamber ensemble.

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Preview or purchase the score for this piece on Graphite Marketplace.