Michelle Nagai (1974)
Ordinary Music for Birth, Death and Life
Part 1: Into the Salt Marshers the Water Comes Fast (2009)
duration: 11:15
Into the Salt Marshes, written especially for janus, is the first complete piece in a planned series of three works for small ensembles. Inspired by A.R. Ammons’ poem Expressions of Sea Level (the “salt marshes” text of the subtitle is credited to him), I wanted to capture the sense of repetition coupled with endless variation that I felt when I read the poem for the first time. That initial reading took place on the day of my son’s birth. The emotional and intellectual experience of reading and re-reading, falling back over lines and phrases in search of meaning, even as I moved forward in the rhythm of the poem, became linked with the extraordinary physical experiences I encountered on this particular day.
A central image in the Ammons poem is that of the “sky sealed unbroken to the sea”. Ammons suggests that only in the meeting of sea and shore, where change is registered in minute shifts of sand, shell and dampness, can the true expression of ocean be seen, felt and understood. Considered alone, the “expression of sea level” is immeasurable and unknowable.
Musically, the harp moves through short phrases which are threaded together by a series of detuned strings in the upper register. For much of the piece, the harp’s rhythms motor along through these phrases in various repeating patterns. The viola and flute approach and withdraw but never become directly involved. At times, all three voices are drawn up in a swell, and the sounds float together before being swept in opposing directions. As with the sea in Ammons’ poem, there is no place in the pieces where one instrument carries a theme or exposes a definitive tonal center. No element defines itself. Instead, each discrete element, whether a phrase, harmonic idea, rhythm or pattern, is made meaningful only in relationship with other aspects of the piece.
This composition is dedicated to my son, who was reading Ammons right along with me.
~ Michelle Nagai
Photo by Frank Wojciechowski