Fieldwork, USA . . .  Taking inventory of the remarkable creative chaos to
be found in a field of wayside weeds and natives.

If asked to choose between a wild, albeit still somewhat disorderly, field,
like the one pictured above, and a formal garden, my interest and sympathies
tend strongly towards the former. Despite all the rough edges, the subtle
rhythms and spatial distributions of flora in a movement of self-organization
display a wonderfully natural intelligence, something that seems to elude
us once we begin to place plants into more easily conceptualized
straight lines and neat rows.

In Music, that's why I prefer Igor Stravinsky (the liberation of rhythm)
and Edgar Varése (the liberation of sound) to Mozart and Beethoven. And
why I sometimes prefer to work with amateurs and children on new scores,
thereby avoiding the formal-garden-like habits of thought of more seasoned
professionals.

For those interested in pursuing this connection between Nature and Music,
have a look at the new score of a piece for Mezzo-soprano & Piano,
based on a little poem by Theodore Roethke of the same title:

"LONG LIVE THE WEEDS"



Or download the MP3 of a performance model:
WEEDS: Mp3 [1 Mb]

NEW: view / purchase different sized prints
at the PhotoWeek Store :
[http://www.shutterfly.com/pro/cliffcards/photoweek]


(Photograph was made Saturday, the 14st of June, 2003)