Things Heard, Misunderstood

PROGRAM NOTES:

Things Heard, Misunderstood for Alto Saxophone with Optional Live Processing (2012) is dedicated to Wisuwat George Pruksavanich who premiered the work on July 12, 2013 at the Thailand International Composition Festival at Mahidol University College of Music (Salaya, Thailand). 

I began writing this piece about one year after moving to Thailand as a way to process a few of the experiences here.

‍Lamentation uses elements from a six-note tune sung boisterously by an elderly man who walks through my neighborhood about once a month. Initially, I believed he was opening his heart through blissful prayer, but he was actually advertising his drain cleaning services. The beauty, and difficulty, of the Thai language is connected with its tonality and the many intricate timbres of the voice. I have reinterpreted his tune as a deploration, infusing it with my own prayers.

InDeet: Mischievous Mosquito is a playful character piece about those pesky, biting insects we all hate.

Quitetly, Quieting. Throughout our travels around Thailand, we have visited many wats (temples). A trip can sometimes provide sensory overload, but it is fun to explore all the new sights and sounds (and smells), while attempting to calm your mind. I find the, mostly, peaceful intermingling of faiths throughout this country admirable.
– notes by the composer, Andrea Reinkemeyer