Multitude
for 8-part mixed choir S.S.A.A.T.T.B.B. a cappella on the eponymous poem by Adam Tie
- Duration: 4' 50"
- Composed in 2020
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Downloadable scores for inspection:
Singaporean poet Adam Tie wrote a book of poems entitled Finders & Keepers. I choose Multitudes, the thirteenth poem of a group subtitled I am empowered because sonic ideas immediately sprung to my mind at first reading. The first and last verse encapsulate the idea of identity through self empowerment. The first verse is a canonic stretto. This stretto returns four times, every time in a tighter stretto with a different meaning. The source of inspiration of each poems was three words given to Adam Tie by strangers. In the book these three words always precede a dedication and the title of a poem.
The introduction of the composition quotes these three inspirational words: charming, limitless, question. The stepwise increase in tempo expresses a growing sense of urgency until the coda states the real question: "So, dear stranger, the real question here is: who are you to ask?".