The Saga of the Symphony

I'm not typically one to air my own dirty laundry but someone else's dirty laundry?  Hand me the clothespins!  And so let us start, first, with the underpants.  

And to that point, I have recently purchased some very nice (clean) underpants from an online shop who now sends me on a regular basis many photos of men in underpants much more well-packaged than yours truly. They are intriguing to me. I find myself wondering upon what the subject and object are musing as these photos are taken.  I wonder what is the promise made by this enterprise?  If one wears these somewhat revealing garments is one to take on the persona of the model, so sexy and languorous, or is should one fantasize oneself in the persona of the photographer, the male gaze upon the endowéd male? Is it hot in here? 

It was in the chilly January of this year, the year of our lord 2025, when Bryan Nies, who is one of my favorite musicians in the world, and who has conducted a few of my favorite operas - UKSUS, Certitude and Joy, Queer - asked me if I would create a version of C&J for his current orchestral position at Symphony of the Redwoods. Of course I said yes, simply because he asked me to, but also because the lovely and talented Laura Bohn had agreed to sing it, and because it would complete my hat trick of variants of the piece: the chamber opera, the orchestral version for the Sofia Philharmonic, and now this mini-cantata.  

I threw myself into the project.  Orchestrating is absolutely great fun, a delight.  To put on the powdered wig and play with a vast palette of old-fashioned instrumental sounds is something I have always enjoyed. It was also an opportunity to switch to Dorico from the poor orphaned Finale, a turning that turned out to be simple, and even shall I say blessed, as the program is pleasant to work with and has some modern features.  But rethinking the piece on its Lace Anniversary was a little more difficult. Looking back at an opera is like viewing a film of yourself performing tricks when you were three years of age. It's not you, it's someone else, but you somehow get to take credit for what this other person is doing. Anywho, I got into it, and it came out quite swimmingly.  It was to be a beautiful solo piece, with a large orchestral introduction, and Laura playing all the parts: me, the narrator, God, LaShaun, the psychiatrist, etc. 

But there was a shadow that came over the work, a difficulty, which in the end actually led to the piece being better, more beautiful, more fun.  Laura had talked to a friend of hers about the work who told her that it was not OK for her to sing the part of a troubled black woman as a white woman. Then Laura started running it by more and more people who also agreed with this, and then Bryan got involved, and I got a bit pissed off and petulantly said OK just do whatever you want, and once it's out of my hands it is out of my hands, it's not mine anymore, whatever, pfft. But what I also said was that focussing on the race of one of the characters is absolutely missing the point of the piece in a number of ways.  First, it is a piece about a person who is experiencing great religious joy (more on this later) not about a person who is in poverty or madness, second the idea that religion is seductive and destructive is a universal story across all times and peoples and cultures, third the character that Laura would be portraying is me.  It's all right there in the libretto:

COMPOSER AND YOUNG WOMAN

 (NOW LASHAUN)

In writing the libretto, LaShaun and I became one and the same. 

 

COMPOSER

I accept that she was 

 

COMPOSER AND LASHAUN

in communication with God,

 

COMPOSER

that He told her

 

LASHAUN

to kill her children.

 

COMPOSER

I am compelled 

 

COMPOSER AND LASHAUN

by her certainty and her great joy.

But they took me at my petulant word and went off and asked my buddy Talya Patrick, who was in the original production with Laura and her as alter-egos, if she would take on some of the role, turning the piece into a duet.  Of course I couldn't say no to that.  I love Talya. She's fantastic. My only request was that they didn't make it about race, that they focussed on the joy of religious faith.  It seemed like that was to be.  I happily re-restructured the piece to match the new circumstance, and in doing so it gained more light and was even lovelier. 

But then, when the concert was only a month or so away, after all plans had been made, taking children out of school and travel and hope and all, that the orchestra attempted one of those tricks where one pulls the rug or tablecloth away and hopes that everything is left standing, and cancelled the performance with a bare-bones email.  Let's take a look.

Dear Artists, 

We are writing to inform you of the Symphony of the Redwoods Board decision to replace the programmed piece "Certitude and Joy" with another selection for our opening season concert.  We have asked Bryan as music director to help with this program change.

We acknowledge that this decision is a difficult one for all involved and we do not make it lightly. The decision is not a comment on the merits and artistic value of the piece. 

Our overriding concern in arriving at this decision is for our local musicians, patrons, and sponsors.  As a small community we pride ourselves on artistic accomplishments and institutions.  Our small orchestra has been in existence for 40 years and still includes a number of founding members, family players spanning three generations and is also supplemented by a host of hired "ringers" that complete the ensemble.   It is in consideration of feedback and consultation with them and many others that we are making this difficult decision. nThe depth and nuances of the composition do not overcome the challenging and darker nature of the themes and therein lies our concern.

Thank you for the time and effort spent on this production.  If at all possible we want to move forward with a concert that includes the Caunteloube songs featuring Laura. We are open to feature her in the first half as well if programming decisions can support it.  

Sincerely and with kind regards,

Joanie Packard, Executive Director

Michael Cox, Board President

Symphony of the Redwoods

My response was surprisingly pointed. It's not typically my way to respond to insult by pointing out the insult, but in this case I felt compelled.  Bryan thought I should publish it, so here it is.

Dear Joanie Packard and Michael Cox,

I received your email yesterday.  I’m shocked at the lack of respect you have shown to me and the other artists involved in this project.  As you are aware, I have been working on this piece since January when the orchestra asked me to write it.  I am very busy with other major projects, and I knew there was little compensation involved, but I did it as a favor to Bryan and to support a small regional orchestra.  I have at this point  put hundreds of hours into this piece, working late nights and weekends to make it wonderful.  I also made major revisions to it on two occasions after requests from your organization, and I have from the beginning offered to help the musicians, to rewrite it for their capabilities, and to discuss any issues – even to make changes to the libretto.  

And the piece is gorgeous!  It came out beautifully.  It is something the organization who commissioned it should be proud of. You were given the opportunity to do something amazing and powerful.  

However, after all that, to not even be granted the opportunity to discuss it, not even a phone call, just an email addressed to the anonymizing sobriquet “Dear Artists” – it is telling that the only composer’s name mentioned in your brief email is misspelled. 

I’ve been in constant contact with your organization since January.  There were 150 emails back and forth.  I sent sketches of the work in February and an orchestration in May.  It would have been so simple to pick up the phone. Why didn’t you arrange a talk between me and the people that were concerned?  Why not have a discussion with donors and stakeholders?  Why not have a pre-concert discussion addressing the issues raised in the piece? 

Maybe you didn’t want to perform a work that is so overtly Christian? The one sentence in your rejection email addressing your reasoning is very brief, so I’m not sure what you meant by its challenging nature. The work is on its face about the joys of religious faith – it’s right there in the title!  Note I’ve written many Christian works, including a mass, a number of operas, settings of bible verses, etc. Certitude and Joy is one of in a long line of works addressing very similar issues: Ein deutsches Requiem, Mahler’s Second, Verdi’s Requiem, Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 14. This list would have made an interesting part of a panel discussion. Joshua Kosman told Laura he was very much looking forward to attending and would have made an interesting panel member,

What is especially confusing to me is that you all knew what the piece was going to be, as it was an expansion of an existing work which has been available to the public since 2012.  Why did you wait until now to bring any of this up?  You could have read the glowing reviews available online - including when the Chronicle put it in their top 10 works of that year.  Plus the entire work is on YouTube, there are interviews with the artists, and a CD release available everywhere. 

I am aware of the issues that face arts organizations.  I too have been involved in the operation of a small orchestra as a founder and a board member for 25 years – as your board president knows, as he has performed with this ensemble.  I also run a larger non-profit producing organization that has presented pieces here and in Europe.  I know that projects can come and go. I know there can be personality issues, and disagreements, and that navigating these can be complicated.  But here I have been treated very poorly.  I can’t speak for the others, but from where I sit it seems you have kneecapped your artistic director and have insulted Laura Bohn, an internationally active and acclaimed singer.  We cannot get back the time lost developing this project, nor can I soon forget the insult. 

Erling Wold, composer