Neutral Tones for Mezzo-Soprano (Countertenor) and 12 Players
(Fl, Ob, Cl, Hn, Tpt, 2 Perc, Piano/Celesta, Harp, Vn, Va, Vc) (7’ 30”) 2008


Neutral Tones (non-printable score).pdf   

Neutral Tones

                                      Thomas Hardy

We stood by a pond that winter day,

And the sun was white, as though chidden of God,

And a few leaves lay on the starving sod,

-- They had fallen from an ash, and were grey.

Your eyes on me were as eyes that rove

Over tedious riddles solved years ago;

And some words played between us to and fro -

On which lost the more by our love.

The smile on your mouth was the deadest thing

Alive enough to have strength to die;

And a grin of bitterness swept thereby

Like an ominous bird a-wing….

Since then, keen lessons that love deceives,

And wrings with wrong, have shaped to me

Your face, and the God-curst sun, and a tree,

And a pond edged with greyish leaves.

                                        written in 1890

                                    published in 1898

Program Note

In the first stanza, Hardy sketches his/her memory of previous love that the main character has. In the second and third stanzas, he/she starts expressing his/her madness with sarcastic and brutal words, such as “smile[…]the deadest thing” and “grin of bitterness.” Finally in the fourth stanza, the character describes the memory again with different nuance.

Then, “Why did Hardy title it Neutral Tones?” was a question in my mind. It seemed too dramatic to use the word “neutral.” However, while a person was complaining with the harsh words, the memory (your face) and nature (sun, tree and pond) did not give him any reaction, but just stayed with his/her furious self. It may have a similar image like this: When a person who has concerns and worries talks to a close friend, he/she may feel somewhat relieved. The friend does not have to talk about something. Just staying neutral can give the person relief.

I started thinking about what musical “neutral tones” are: maybe certain hovering melodic motion, maybe simplicity, maybe no dynamic change, maybe symmetrical harmony and register… I expressed various neutral ideas in certain ways while putting dramatic contents in foreground as the poem placed neutral elements behind the dramatic words. This piece illustrates my reaction to the poem and to musical neutral tones.

2008

E.B.