The Grey Land (Premiere October 16, 2018 at Roulette in Brooklyn, NY)
photo by Daniel Wolf courtesy of Roulette Intermedium
(Flute/Piccolo, Bb Clarinet/Eb Clarinet, Alto Saxophone, Bassoon, Trumpet, Horn, Trombone, 4 Acoustic/Electric Guitars, 2 Electric Pianos, Harp, 6 Female voices, Strings (4 violins, 2 violas, 1 cellos), Electric Bass, Soprano Soloist, Narrator, Electronics)
70 minutes
70 minutes
“… he made all the world…a vast grey land where neither night nor day was, peopled by strange men and women whom he could not understand, but with those lives he longed to mingle once before he went.” —Richard Wright, Native Son
"No moral code or ethical principle, no piece of scripture or holy teaching,
can be summoned to defend what we have allowed our country to become."
—Matthew Desmond, Evicted
The Grey Land is a monoopera, which through the lens of one Black mother's experiences navigating American society with her son, explores universal themes of humanity and identity through the intractable triumvirate of race, class, and power. The Grey Land ruminates and comments more specifically on the larger longstanding systemic societal, economic, and cultural issues the recent spate of police shootings and protests have brought to the wider public consciousness. The Grey Land is made possible by a grant from the American Composers Forum with funds provided by the Jerome Foundation and, in addition, is also supported by New Music USA. The composition will eventually be recorded for New Amsterdam Records after the October 16, 2018 premiere at Roulette in Brooklyn.
The Grey Land is a monoopera, which through the lens of one Black mother's experiences navigating American society with her son, explores universal themes of humanity and identity through the intractable triumvirate of race, class, and power. The Grey Land ruminates and comments more specifically on the larger longstanding systemic societal, economic, and cultural issues the recent spate of police shootings and protests have brought to the wider public consciousness. The Grey Land is made possible by a grant from the American Composers Forum with funds provided by the Jerome Foundation and, in addition, is also supported by New Music USA. The composition will eventually be recorded for New Amsterdam Records after the premiere.
Music/concept: Joseph C Phillips Jr
28-member Orchestral Ensemble: Numinous
Conductor: Joseph C Phillips Jr
Words: Joseph C Phillips Jr, Isaac Butler, Paul Laurence Dunbar, James Baldwin, Sonia Sotomayor, Mothers of the Movement, Carolyn Bryant Donham
Soprano soloist: Rebecca L. Hargrove
Narrator: Kenneth Browning
Dancer: Jay Bouey
Cello solo: Mariel Roberts
Video/Film: Malik Isasis and Xuan Zhang
Choreography: Edisa Weeks
Electronics: Michael Hammond
The Grey Land is a monoopera, which through the lens of one Black mother's experiences navigating American society with her son, explores universal themes of humanity and identity through the intractable triumvirate of race, class, and power. The Grey Land ruminates and comments more specifically on the larger longstanding systemic societal, economic, and cultural issues the recent spate of police shootings and protests have brought to the wider public consciousness. The Grey Land is made possible by a grant from the American Composers Forum with funds provided by the Jerome Foundation and, in addition, is also supported by New Music USA. The composition will eventually be recorded for New Amsterdam Records after the premiere.
Music/concept: Joseph C Phillips Jr
28-member Orchestral Ensemble: Numinous
Conductor: Joseph C Phillips Jr
Words: Joseph C Phillips Jr, Isaac Butler, Paul Laurence Dunbar, James Baldwin, Sonia Sotomayor, Mothers of the Movement, Carolyn Bryant Donham
Soprano soloist: Rebecca L. Hargrove
Narrator: Kenneth Browning
Dancer: Jay Bouey
Cello solo: Mariel Roberts
Video/Film: Malik Isasis and Xuan Zhang
Choreography: Edisa Weeks
Electronics: Michael Hammond
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The Loves of Pharaoh (2012)
score for Ernst Lubitsch’s 1922 silent film, commissioned by the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) 2012 Next Wave Festival (Flute/Piccolo/Alto Flute, Clarinet/Bass Clarinet/Saxophones, Trumpet/Flügelhorn, Horn, Tuba, Vibraphone, Piano/Electric Piano, Harp or Celtic Harp, Acoustic & Electric guitar, 2 Female voices, String sextet (2 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos) and Acoustic & Electric Bass) (also available for Orchestra) 100 minutes |
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Lost for decades, a landmark silent film lives again. Meticulously reconstructed, revered German auteur Ernst Lubitsch’s The Loves of Pharaoh (1922) returns to near-original form for Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM)’s 2012 Next Wave Festival. A new score composed and conducted by Joseph C. Phillips Jr. and performed by 18 members of his acclaimed new music ensemble Numinous accompanies the screening of the film at the Festival.
Set in ancient Egypt, this monumental, super-spectacle features lavish sets and costumes and a cast of thousands. Emil Jannings (winner of the first Academy Award for Best Actor) stars as the brutal Pharaoh Amenes, who leads his country into war for the love of a Greek slave girl. With its six Acts flowing into one another over 100 minutes, the film weaves an integrated, almost operatic narrative. The new score, commissioned by the Next Wave Festival, mirrors and enhances the film’s dramatic and emotional themes in a more contemporary musical language and aesthetic.
“I am approaching the music in a different way than Eduard Künneke’s original score,” says Phillips. “Whereas the original score was a product of late-19th century Romanticism, my new score reflects a more diverse 21st century mixed music language. The music is more subtle and less melodramatic than the original, and also resonates with an emotional expressivity that more fully connects the actions of the characters with their subconscious thoughts and feelings.”
In this, Phillips cites Claude Debussy's Pelleas and Melisande as well as John Adams's The Death of Klinghoffer as musical touchstones. “With their rich musical means serving the dramatic actions of characters, both internally and externally, those two operas are influential on some of my thoughts in scoring Pharaoh,” says Phillips. “And while moments are reminiscent of those influences, my score, however, is really more representative of my own voice and style.”
Set in ancient Egypt, this monumental, super-spectacle features lavish sets and costumes and a cast of thousands. Emil Jannings (winner of the first Academy Award for Best Actor) stars as the brutal Pharaoh Amenes, who leads his country into war for the love of a Greek slave girl. With its six Acts flowing into one another over 100 minutes, the film weaves an integrated, almost operatic narrative. The new score, commissioned by the Next Wave Festival, mirrors and enhances the film’s dramatic and emotional themes in a more contemporary musical language and aesthetic.
“I am approaching the music in a different way than Eduard Künneke’s original score,” says Phillips. “Whereas the original score was a product of late-19th century Romanticism, my new score reflects a more diverse 21st century mixed music language. The music is more subtle and less melodramatic than the original, and also resonates with an emotional expressivity that more fully connects the actions of the characters with their subconscious thoughts and feelings.”
In this, Phillips cites Claude Debussy's Pelleas and Melisande as well as John Adams's The Death of Klinghoffer as musical touchstones. “With their rich musical means serving the dramatic actions of characters, both internally and externally, those two operas are influential on some of my thoughts in scoring Pharaoh,” says Phillips. “And while moments are reminiscent of those influences, my score, however, is really more representative of my own voice and style.”