Julia Wolfe - Fire in My Mouth (2019)
00:00 I. IMMIGRATION. Growing trepidation and excitement before boarding a boat to New York. Glowing vocal chords (1:04) (1:38) (2:24)
03:58 Nervously energetic and rhythmic as the journey begins (4:30)
06:13 A piercingly beautiful cluster of strings and voices thickens, before becoming cheery and lively among woodwind and percussion flurries (7:22) (8:15)
09:34 A foreboding ending to the movement climaxing in a huge ringing cluster (10:54)
11:26 II. FACTORY. "Geiger counter" strings, woodwind "jet whistles", deep percussion booms, etc. evoke the sounds of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, slowly growing to an enormous intensity
15:31 A mournful Yiddish folk-tune comes out of the noise, overlapping with a lively Italian tarantella (16:40) Climax among wild wind trills and cluster tremolos (17:41)
18:46 The slow and ominous opening and closing of scissors ends the movement
20:08 III. PROTEST. A protest chant, propelled by grooving percussion and gradually thickening harmony
22:09, 23:18 Feisty, desperate declamations of the girls' dreams to become Americans. Burning vocal chords (24:54)
26:10 The beat continues as Clara Lemlich speaks out against intolerable conditions. Biting final chord (27:42) before a beautiful wash of bowed guitar and strings
29:36 The groove picks up again. Hypnotizing polyrhythms singing various textile terms
31:32 A determined, fiery ending to the movement
32:48 IV. FIRE. "like in a strange dream." Noises of string instruments, as the altos hum a dreamy melody
34:13 A driving strappata beat, increasingly frantic cries of "fire" (36:00)
37:14 Sirens sound (strings violently gliss upwards) (38:28)
39:19 Solemn and stunned as workers begin to jump out of the burning factory (40:33)
41:33 "Irrational, Wild, Incoherent." Extremely violent tremolos, trills, and glisses as more workers jump
43:37 Rose Schneiderman's speech, "serious, focused, quietly distraught"
45:07 Bells ring out as the names of the 146 victims are sung out in a gorgeously bitter ending
Score available from Ricordi/Red Poppy Music: juliawolfemusic.com/music/fir...
Fire in my mouth is based on the garment industry in New York City at the turn of the century, with a focus on the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire and its aftermath. Drawing upon contemporary accounts of immigration, labor, and activism amongst the garment workers of the Lower East Side, Fire in my mouth brings the world and words of the garment workers to the forefront.
Composer: Julia Wolfe (December 18, 1958 - )
Orchestra: New York Philharmonic conducted by Jaap van Zweden
Chorus: The Crossing directed by Donald Nally
Girls' Chorus: Young People's Chorus of New York City directed by Francisco J. Núñez
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Пікірлер: 41
I heard the premiere of this live with NY Phil a few years back, and it was very powerful as one can imagine. A lot of visual elements happening you can’t see with this score of course. Thanks for the upload!
@Cmaj7
4 ай бұрын
Yeah, I saw "Her Story" last year and the theatrical elements (and music) in that were really stunning too! I hope I'll get to see this piece performed as well
@saadhaddadmusic
4 ай бұрын
I haven't seen that one! amazing@@Cmaj7
What an absolute masterpiece.
@Rafaah_D
4 ай бұрын
verdade
I’m studying for a test on the Great Depression right now, and while the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire didn’t take place during that exact time period, it’s still epic and very fitting music. Thank you!
A month later i'm still obsessed with this piece
Listened to this while getting dressed today. Phenomenal. It’s written like a film score; the story it tells is so accessible and uses history to teach us about our flaws in the present. Absolutely incredible, full of viscera and glory and modern sensibilities. Gotta check out the rest of her work now!! Thanks as always Cmaj7, you always have the best taste, I can always count on you to upload something AWESOME that I’ll love!!! Edit: that ending moved me to tears. The bells strike directly into your heart with no mercy.
@WilliamDurrant-ll8xy
4 ай бұрын
That must have been a hell of an outfit
@AndromedaCripps
4 ай бұрын
@@WilliamDurrant-ll8xy Look, I take a long time to get dressed 😂😂😂😂😂 And I did spend about half the time just sitting on my bed trying to read the words on the score off my tiny phone screen….. But no, the subject matter of the piece didn’t influence the outfit 😂
Amazing piece! Thank you for the upload
Fascinating piece. I tend to find orchestral pieces with lyrics a little heavy handed and this one’s no exception. I LOVE the second movement and how it marries cold, industrial sounds with emotion and drive.
@genericmeme
4 ай бұрын
Do you reckon you'd feel differently about the lyrics thing if it were in Latin or something?
@celadonk
4 ай бұрын
@@genericmeme Definitely.
Woah. This is some great contemporary classical!
wow! ty for posting!
Best piece I've heard this year
An absolute banger which I would have never discovered if it were not for this channel, thank you, really!
What a fantastic piece!
Incredible work.
First time hearing of this composer.
C'est magnifique !
Великолепно! Хор, оркестр - все прекрасно выразили идею произведения! Благодарю за публикацию 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Great piece. Never heard of the composer before. Must seek her out. Thanks for the upload.
Cool piece!
Fire in the hole
Please more Julia Wolfe!! (Next up steel hammer??)
The chord at 45:33🔥🔥🔥🔥
from do you bring all of these intersting pieces, Cmaj7? This is way more that Cmaj7 Thank you!
based
Poor man's John Adams
This is one of the all-time most impactful pieces I've ever heard. However, as much as I'd like to own and study the score, your link doesn't lead to that. It does have a watermarked score to view. And at Ricordi, you can only rent it. So I ask you, in all due respect, unless Julia gave you permission to display this--as much as I'd like to see it- how did you legally get this precious copyrighted score without a watermark?
you should credit steve reich.
@Cmaj7
4 ай бұрын
There is the influence but there's plenty of other influence (I particularly sense Louis Andriessen) and of course a lot of Wolfe's own flavor
@VincentLenormant
4 ай бұрын
feels to me like reproducing music that was interesting 50 years ago, nothing new here... thanks for the upload anyway@@Cmaj7
@lightyagami1058
4 ай бұрын
@@VincentLenormant No one's asking you to listen.
@VincentLenormant
4 ай бұрын
i confirm, just like no one asked you to read my comment@@lightyagami1058
@genericmeme
4 ай бұрын
a dull comment from someone who apparently doesn't understand how composition works