Ba— poems from Ocean (low voice and piano) (2022)
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Ba– poems from Ocean explores the dualities of parent-child relationships, generational trauma, and P.T.S.D., conveyed through constant shifts between expressions of admiration, fear, anger, judgment, confusion, care, etc. Lines describing gentle caresses are pressed up against descriptions of violent acts, as the singer both condemns and nurses, emulates and rejects, runs from and toward their father.
The songs are from a child’s perspective, taking place in present moments between father and son, in the son’s memory, or in the recollection of second-hand stories. The piece culminates in a statement near the end of the final song, “I am chasing my father the way the dead chase after days—”, a realization of the impact one’s father has had on their life. The realization that their striving for success, their efforts to be known, and their bids for closeness have all been in pursuit of a fundamental figure and a fundamental affection missing from their childhood.
This piece was commissioned by baritone André Chiang in 2022 for his debut album.
PROGRAM NOTES
Ba– poems from Ocean explores the dualities of parent-child relationships, generational trauma, and P.T.S.D., conveyed through constant shifts between expressions of admiration, fear, anger, judgment, confusion, care, etc. Lines describing gentle caresses are pressed up against descriptions of violent acts, as the singer both condemns and nurses, emulates and rejects, runs from and toward their father.
The songs are from a child’s perspective, taking place in present moments between father and son, in the son’s memory, or in the recollection of second-hand stories. The piece culminates in a statement near the end of the final song, “I am chasing my father the way the dead chase after days—”, a realization of the impact one’s father has had on their life. The realization that their striving for success, their efforts to be known, and their bids for closeness have all been in pursuit of a fundamental figure and a fundamental affection missing from their childhood.
NOTES ON PERFORMANCE
In general, take tempi that are most comfortable for your team. Don’t be afraid of rubato; think late-romantic when it comes to phrasing, whether that’s Puccini, Rachmaninoff, or Chopin. Surges and swells are welcome.
While there are many bel canto moments in the piece, diction should be distinctly American. No rolled r’s. Use American vowels whenever possible (while still retaining beautiful tone). Dr. André Chiang, the commissioner of this piece, is particularly adept at natural and beautiful-sounding American diction. I would encourage listening to his recording of the piece for reference.
The third song must have as consistent a tempo as possible and requires the most metric precision of any of the pieces. The repeated piano chords and the undulating vocal line are inspired by Viet Buddhist chant, which is unwavering in tempo.
Many performers feel inclined to perform this entire set without stopping but feel that they require a break before the final (and longest) song. If you wish to perform this piece in its entirety with no breaks, I recommend that at the begging of In Newport, the pianist continuously repeats the first bar. The singer may take their time preparing for the song, then when they have spoken the line at the end of the first bar, they will both move on to the rest of the piece.
NOTES ON THE TEXT
The texts used in Ba– poems from Ocean have been pulled from Ocean Vuong’s first full-length collection, “Night Sky With Exit Wounds”. I had been a fan of Ocean for a few years— I discovered him online and was fortunate enough to have a quick beer with him and his partner when they were passing through New Orleans (2019)— when André approached me about writing a song cycle (2022), so much so that I already had the five poems I wanted to set picked out two years prior (2020). I actually tried to write this song cycle in 2020, but found, for
lack of a better description, that my compositional skill and my own personal development were not at a level where I could do these poems justice. In hindsight, I find it very cool that I was given the opportunity and support to return to these poems two years later, having developed the necessary technical and emotional capacity to express them through music. It feels rare to have such a clear, seemingly objective, example of my growth as a composer, an artist, a human... to compare how I tackle the same exact project two years apart. What a gift— one I’m very grateful to André for giving me. I also have to thank Ocean and Peter who gave me permission to explore Ocean’s poetry in this way (“Do whatever you want with them!”) at the Ace Hotel Bar back in 2019.
NOTES ON THE MUSIC
The music both evokes literal settings (a distant cathedral, a childhood bedroom, a bathroom shower, a beachside Nissan, etc.) and expresses the aforementioned dualities in three major ways. Firstly, the general harmonic language is bittersweet and unresolved, relying heavily on a quasi-tonicization of ii and IV chords, leaning into the emotional liminality of their predominant functions (as used in Western harmony). There are almost no instances of I chords, save for a few moments in the last two songs of the cycle (when we are the closest to any kind of “acceptance”). Even in those moments, the I chord is in 1st inversion or is utilizing Lydian extensions which reduces the sense of resolution. Secondly, there is a regular use of polychords and bitonality— in key moments, particularly when a weapon is brought into the narrative, or when abuse is implied, the piano will introduce polychords. The same intervallic relationship of a three-note half-step cluster is constant in each polychordal expression (E minor-F major-F# major, G minor-G# major-A major, etc.) which gives the harmony a sense of continuity. The vocal line is typically in diatonic harmony with the chord expressed in the lowest register of the piano’s polychord, save for Telemachus where the voice repeatedly emphasizes the raised fourth scale degree in the piano’s natural fourth scale degree. Thirdly, the transitions between the general harmonic language and the use of polychords and bitonality are subtle more often than not— our first example of bitonality occurs in Always & Forever, where what seems like a leading tone to a new key area gently descends into polychordal territory as the left and right hand modulate into different key areas, effectively a bitonal modulation. This first happens subtly over four bars, then, just as soon we notice “something going on”, the harmonic language switches back (a metaphor for pseudomutuality). These three harmonic elements are the most prominent expressions of navigating dualities in this piece, as I hear it.
Aspects of traditional Vietnamese music also appear throughout the piece, typically in the form of asymmetric phrase structure, ornamented lines, and heavily romantic vocal writing. These qualities, along with the use of particular textural elements, color variance through vocal tessitura, text painting, and an exploration of space and silence, further contribute to the mood of the piece.
