“It was the fall of the Berlin Wall which initially gave me the idea of writing a work based on political texts. The work is in three sections (sung in English, French and Spanish), each comprising two songs. Each song uses the ensemble to create a very different musical setting, but what unifies the work is the melodic lyricism of the vocal part combined with a strong sense of pulse, and the frequent use of polyrythmic patterns in the instrumental score.”

“I had been fascinated with the compositional possibilities of the opening riff of Nirvana’s song Smells Like Teen Spirit for a few years…”

“In the summer of 1990, then Bradyworks soprano Iraina Neufeld suggested that I set some of John C. Walker’s poems to music. John sent me some poems and I found that the clarity and simplicity of expression of the texts suited the kind of simple melodic ideas that I was trying to explore at the time. The work is written for unaccompanied soprano…”

1-6. Revolutionary Songs

7. Circling

8. Three or Four Days After the Death of Kurt Cobain

9-12. Walker Songs