Augusta Read Thomas: Upon Wings of Words for Light Lyric Soprano & String Quartet - Study Score [Printed Music]

‘This piece investigates various rhythmic syntaxes. Each gets stronger by the juxtaposition of the others.’ Together with a ‘consistent harmonic vocabulary’, it is this which strings the contrasting poems together musically. ‘All five parts are fully engaged and take turns being the focal point upon which the others balance,’ she explains of the instrumentation. ‘Everything is organic, one thing leads to the next and unexpected twists seem inevitable.’ In setting the words to music, different approaches are taken, such as colour painting and musical translations of the songs’ deeper meanings. In the first movement, dance permeates everything from harmonies to rhythms. Of its poem, she says, ‘it’s so positive and full of natural imagery. I thought, ‘ok, we’re dancing!’’ In the fourth poem, it was the ‘hotness and power of truth’ which inspired both Thomas’ fourth movement and whole work. ‘In a way, I’m telling the whole piece’s truth, but I’m telling it slant. It’s my own take and way and it has its own fingerprint.’ The Strad magazine