As We Breathe by Theresa Wong
A composer, cellist and vocalist currently living the San Francisco Bay Area, Theresa Wong has created a piece that deals with the breath, and how that ties together so many parts of 2020 including the pandemic, the wildfires and the oppression of Black citizens.
'As We Breathe' by Theresa Wong
Music by: Theresa Wong
Baritone: David Castillo
Koto: Theresa Wong
Text by: Mercedes Roffé from Floating Lanterns (2009, excerpt)
Additional Text by: Theresa Wong
Translation from Spanish by: Anna Deeny Morales
From Theresa:
As We Breathe was composed as I experienced California’s worst wildfire season to date in modern history. Struggling to feel well enough to work due to poor air quality, I decided to focus on the breath and breathing as the kernel to this song, simply as a means to cope – physically, emotionally and creatively. I quickly realized the breath was the common struggle too between victims of COVID-19 and so many African American lives lost this year and years past due to racism and police brutality. The song is an elegy dedicated to those whose lives and dreams have been cut short in this traumatic year, as well as a call to those of us still living to re-dream what might be possible for a better future. The piece is centered on A=432 Hz (rather than the more common 440 Hz or less than 442 Hz) and is written in just intonation. The harmonic and melodic structures are derived using Harry Partch’s 11-limit tonality diamond. Using alternative tuning systems is an act of opening the door to biodiversity and variety in a larger musical landscape, which has conformed for centuries in many musical genres to equal temperament. The metaphorical and literal act of ‘tuning oneself’ and ‘finding new meanings of harmony’ in our current global situation begins for me through the act of composition.
Text:
The kernel dreams it is already
a gold spike of corn
and the boy dreams he is a man
evil dreams it passes unnoticed
and goodness that it plays a hand and wins
The dew dreams it is already a deep sea
and the golden seed that it is a brooch and
armlet
The root dreams it is a branch, that a bird
makes its nest in it and the cloud that it is already rain and
seeping the fresh asperity of grass
Additional Text:
I breathe (the air)
you breathe
she breathes (the air)
he breathes
it breathes (the air)
they breathe
we breathe
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This activity is supported in part by the California Arts Council, a state agency. Learn more at cac.ca.gov
Supported in part by a grant from the Arts Council for Long Beach and the City of Long Beach.
Long Beach Opera events are supported, in part, by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission