Word-Shadows was commissioned by the 2006 RochesterInk Poetry Festival in Rochester, NY and was inspired by several poems of Paul Celan (1920-1970), fragments of which form the basis of the piece. My desire to compose a piece for String Trio in which text fragments would not, or possibly could not, be spoken or sung stems from my contemplation of a paradox central to Celan’s work: the necessity of language in a state of speechlessness. It is in this conceptual realm that the ambiguities of Celan’s words crystallize into a new language, one that addresses the ‘other’ while continuously reflecting upon aspects of identity. Musically, similar processes are at work in this piece. The text fragments inform the structure at a basic level, yet they also provide a point of conflict where music and text can no longer co-exist. Another form of expression is required, a hybrid form. The music in Word-Shadows, then, seeks to provide resonance for certain aspects of the text fragments, while avoiding picturesque musical descriptions. If the fragments of Celan’s texts can be thought of as stones being thrown into a lake, then the music in this piece is the resulting impact on the water: sometimes mere ripples ensue, at other times large splashes. Furthermore, the journey below the surface of the water is represented here, as the stones sink further and further into the black, cold liquid depths. In the end, the interaction of the text fragments and the music provides a new narrative to be considered, one that is not only Celan’s, or my own, but also a more universal path that can be traced with words, music, and shadows, if we can but open our eyes and ears.

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