When I was a young composer, I heard a story about Stravinsky’s process – that, from time to time, in order to keep himself fresh, he would set himself tasks and requirements for a given day’s output – “Today, I will not write any major seconds,” etc. For him, having to work within these guidelines sparked and spurred his creativity. One of my great joys as Composer in Residence for the New Hampshire Master Chorale is the opportunity I get to craft works to meet the specific needs or programming themes of the Chorale for a particular concert series – I find that the process of addressing these issues sparks my creativity!
When Dan Perkins, NHMC’s Music Director, told me that he was programming Menotti’s The Unicorn, the Gorgon, and the Manticore, my mind immediately leaped to my favorite mythical creature text, James Thurber’s “The Unicorn in the Garden,” one of his Fables for Our Time. Thanks to the kind consideration of Thurber’s daughter Rosemary, and the estate’s literary agent Barbara Hogenson, I was able to obtain the rights to set this text, and here’s the result! Of course, looking at the titles of the other Fables just makes me want to set more – The Tiger Who Understood People, The Bear Who Let It Alone …
Read the text.
