I am excited to introduce this sweeping and energetic work based on text from historian Steven Johnson’s engaging and lively book, “How We Got to Now: Six Innovations that Made the Modern World.” Johnson brings to life stories of people who transformed unsung materials and technology to change the course of history.
This choral setting weaves together the author’s fresh and accessible prose in a series of stories that elicit wonder, disgust, and amusement by shining a light on hidden gems of history. The insistent and driving nature of the music mirrors the far-reaching changes wrought by the lineup of protagonists.
The piece opens millions of years ago as the remnants of a comet explode over the desert creating a sheet of glass, shards of which end up in King Tut’s tomb. Shifting to Europe, we learn why Italian glassmakers got kicked out of Venice and established an Isle of Glass where they invented mirrors and crystal. While monks take up lens crafting for reading, Galileo turns our world upside down.
The later movements take place in 19th century America, starting with the tales of two entrepreneurs, Frederic Tudor and Clarence Birdseye, who respectively, shipped blocks of ice around the world, and developed flash freezing and the marvel of frozen peas. Next we learn of two unheralded engineers who poisoned a reservoir and lifted the city of Chicago to rid us of filth and give us clean drinking water and sewer drains. We follow Thomas Edison’s colleagues as they scour the globe in search of a suitable material as a filament for his light bulb. The work closes with a contemplation on inspiration.
The midi video contains two movements: Cold and Clean.
Original arrangement for SATB and Piano, 2021. Arrangement of Glass available for SATB with divisi a cappella.
Performance / other notes:
Written in four movements and coda, the movements can be performed separately.
A strong tenor section will really rock this piece.
The piece is melodic and rhythmically diverse.
Separated “ahs” should be pulsed.