Patricia Ann Repar

 fixed media

ten’der1 n. (esp.) 1. Small ship in attendance upon a larger one to supply her with stores, guide her through shallow waters, and convey orders and directions. Strategically located within oneself yet inexplicably difficult to find.

Special thanks to percussionist Courtney Lurie and songwriters Gross and Lawrence for their tune Tenderly (1955).

Click here to here a recording of this piece.

Patricia Ann Repar

for soprano, alto, tenor, baritone saxophones, and digital accompaniment

1 iridium flare: a surge of light

                      marking the revolution in satellite telecommunication

                      (wire shattered and adrenals gone mad)

launching us forward to do it faster, spread it further, say it louder, push it harder,

leaving us dark in the night and cold on the ground

like the hard, dense, silvery-white metallic sheen of iridium.

2 iridium flare: a surge of light

                      marking the call to remember

                      (even if in the midst of desolation)

the overwhelming vulnerability of clouds reconfiguring, kisses colliding,

and human hearts floundering in the space between life and death

like the deep lustrous yellow of iridium gone gold.

Thanks to Willie Johnson for ‘Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground’, one of the 27 samples of music included on the Voyager Golden Record launched into space in 1977.

Click here to view the score.

Click here to view the performance notes.

Click here to view a performance (YouTube).