To procure the music for “In a Holt of Giant Hatpins”, please contact Trevor Zavac.
Program Notes
Music is perhaps the most abstract art form, which has confused and upset audiences for centuries.
Composers have thought up a good many ways to combat this, from Beethoven who denotes mood and character, to the overtly programmatic music meant to literally represent a narrative. What these have in common is the use of concrete art forms (such as text), which are used to guide the listener and give the music direction.
This begs the question: if text can be used as the narrative basis to make an abstract piece less abstract, can music be utilized as a springboard to employ a concrete art form in an abstract manner? “In a Holt of Giant Hatpins” uses music to justify text. With the exception of the first line, all of the text was written either after the music or in conjunction with the music. This means that any resulting narrative (if one exists) is dictated solely by the demands and development of the music. In this particular approach to “music painting”, the text makes semantic sense. The words, at least to me, reflect the music. The beauty of the text is rooted primarily in the sound of each word or stanza as it relates to the words and stanzas on either side of it. The result is a fantastical experience, exploring a world as unique and sprawling as the music.
“In a Holt of Giant Hatpins” is about nothing in particular. Any meaning extrapolated from the text or the music has equal origins in the mind of the listener.
Text (by composer)
I walk in a holt of giant hatpins.
Pillars and kites in ruins,
Thimble toadstools, obsidians, educated warblers.
I see Shimmers of Something alluring,
Wondrous, bright, reclusive;
But dark shadows skulk,
Sheeted Beauties beckon.
There I behold Fate's awesome tragedies.
These juried phantasms,
Damask clad and net veiled,
Wade aimlessly,
Lamenting Time.
And now I see winds change.
Eternal cosmic nothings.
I walk in a holt of giant hatpins.
Bees! Bees! Bees! Buzz!
So Scary! So cute!
Sting! Ouch!
All colonial insects.
Bees!
And ants!
Sanguinary spines.
Decay.
Formaldehyde.
Anthropic soapstones.
Disassociate.
Nocturnal terrors.
Eyes closed,
Tears flow.
AsI wander though illusive landscapes,
I see nothing that really is.
Nothing is here at all.
And so I abandon these useless epiphanies.
Whispering Text:
Soapstones
Lazy artichokes
Particularly batty porters
Christ’s lingerie
Very ill dodecahedrons
Somnolent jockeys
Shuttlecocks
The turn of the century
Instrumentation
- Flute (doubling piccolo)
- Oboe
- Clarinet in Bb
- Bassoon
- Horn in F
- Percussion 1 (crotales, glockenspiel, suspended cymbals)
- Percussion 2 (vibraphone, snare drum, tam-tam, bass drum)
- Harp
- Piano
- Soprano
- Violin I
- Violin II
- Viola
- Cello
- Double Bass (C extension)
Notes
“In a Holt of Giant Hatpins” was premiered by the USC Thornton Edge Ensemble under the direction of Donald Crockett on Tuesday, April 15, 2025 in Newman Recital Hall at the University of Southern California with soloist Alessia Jensen.