Voices Long Kept Silent

Voices Long Kept Silent was premiered on July 5 by cellist Diane Chaplin. The music begins with the soul's cry after generations of oppression. (Diane uses a delay pedal at specific points in the piece to signify the echo of time.) The cry gets stronger and stronger until about a quarter of the way through it breaks out into: "I'm.. angry!" The rhythm of these words--looong short short--will give this away. It is repeated twice more, each time stronger and clearer. Then the voice breaks out in a flood of righteous anger until it has emptied itself. From the dust rises a happy little tune free of an established foot-tapping rhythm, a dance of sorts that expresses its newfound freedom. As that settles down, there is a moment of thoughtfulness in which the voice realized there are many still bound. At that point, the beginning melody will return as a cry for those still in chains. As it is in life, once we are freed, we turn to free others.