We Are
SSSSAAAA choir
(2016)
Text: K. Pukinskis and others
Language: English
Duration: 4 minutes, 30 seconds
Commissioned by La Caccina
Premiered October 2016
La Caccina
Chicago IL
Composer’s Note
This piece was commissioned for La Caccina’s concert entitled “Open Book.” The premise of the concert is that the women of La Caccina wanted to bring to life texts that were never intended to be sung, or even further, heard. Inspired by a piece I read by Ashley Fure, I asked my female friends to submit to me statements that had been directed at them by men that called into question their value or worth based on their gender. The phrases that I set are a tapestry of value judgments, assumptions, accusations, and charges either said directly to or in the vicinity of and about my colleagues.
Musically, I utilize the word “she” to juxtapose the silencing “sh” that starts the word with the beginning of each silencing phrase. Women speak and sing as one, occasionally as duets, interrupted by a “sh” or one of these accusatory statements before starting over, trying to get out a sentence without disrupting another’s flow. The piece peaks at a unison alignment of the choir, as they sing “We are a collection of drips and drops and tidbits of strength and camaraderie.” The qualities that were originally presented as accusatory judgments such as “too fast, too strong, too brave, too emotional, too sensitive,” are now sung together as a celebration of these same qualities.
Text
She doesn’t know the answer.
She won’t know the answer.
She shouldn’t be here.
How did you get here?
Who let you in?
They must have needed a girl to balance the group, the board
The panel, the class.
Why are you here?
She is too emotional, sensitive, shy, passive, quiet
Aggressive, pushy,
Surely she doesn’t know how to fix it.
She can’t possibly understand how to use that.
I’ll show her.
I’ll do it for her.
She didn’t say “hi” back to me.
She didn’t smile for me.
She should smile.
Don’t you understand a compliment?
Talk to me.
Why are you ignoring me?
You’d be prettier if you smiled.
Don’t be ungrateful!
With the way you’re dressed,
You’re asking for it!
And yet;
We are a collection of drips and drops and tidbits of strength
And camaraderie.
So fortifying,
How important
So important,
We are important.
We are strong, creative, brave, sensitive, fast, emotional, smart,
Bright;
We are here.
We are her.