Readings (2022)

As a child, my grandparents hosted a “Welcome to the World” party for a small group of friends and family. Each person who attended chose a short reading to share with the group and family that could not make it to Maine sent their own texts to be read by proxy. When watching the home video of the get-together, I was struck by the musicality of several of the readings and decided to map out the melodies of four and apply harmony. The four texts which inspire each movement are:

1. The end of Plato’s Phaedrus as read by my great uncle Jim who was a renowned scholar of the classics
2. A poem written by my cousin Solomon (11 years old at the time) called “Ocean” as read by my father
3. A selection from Alan Paton’s novel Cry, the Beloved Country, as read by my grandfather who was a pastor
4. A poem written by my great Aunt Carol called “Gifts and Bequests,” again, as read by my great uncle Jim