SACRED ART
for baritone, oboe, and percussion (2017) Duration: 9:00
text by Heidi Decker
Premiere performance by Chad Sloan (baritone), Jennifer Potochnic (oboe), Michael Launius (percussion)
Without the scrolling score…
Text by Heidi Decker,
from Eye of the Beholder
You like? You know you do. You liiiiiiiike me. You can’t help it.
Look at me. What’s not to like?
Wanna taste me wanna touch me wanna feel me wanna be me wanna know how it feels to be inside this skin?
Wanna touch it? You can. I believe in spreading the love. C’mon, you know you want to.
I’m what you need. I’m what makes your life complete. It’s true. What does everyone reeeally need in life? Truth? I got plenty of truth. Beauty? See for yourself. Liberty? I’ll liberate you. Passion? I got as much as you need. A higher spiritual existence?
Baby, I’ll bring you as close to God as you’re ever gonna get.
I am a holy conduit, a...consecrated vessel. I don’t judge, and I’m guilt free.
God is love, baby, and I’m all love. It’s all gooooood.
What you see before you is sacred art. I am a mosaic, baby. They all made a pilgrimage to me. They laid their troubled brows upon my flesh...and were healed.
I can heal you too. You know I can.
This is your one chance, your only, you’ll never see me again.
But you’ll wonder about me for the rest of your life.
Love is the seventh wave, baby! Love heals all wounds. Time don’t do shit but make you older, and it’s ticking by faster than you think.
You see this spot? Right here? All cool, clean and serene...
Make my art complete baby. Give me my wings. Put your mark right here.
I get a piece of you, you get a piece of me...
A spiritual keepsake...a little breath of soul for you to take home with you...and keep in the pocket of your jeans until it’s time to do the laundry.
Be careful, baby, it may stain.
PROGRAM NOTES:
The text of Sacred Art was adapted from a monologue in Heidi Decker's work, Eye of the Beholder, a play about the power of perception. There the text is delivered by a character named Lila. In Sacred Art, this character has been changed to a man, but the personality's characteristics and intentions remain the same.
Heidi has said about this character: "The key word to remember with him is 'hypnotic.' His focus is completely on weaving a spell; convincing his audience that right now, THIS moment in time is one of those opportunities you dream about your entire life. The chance to experience genuine magic with him. Not everyone gets this chance, it’s a rare gift. YOU are the lucky one, standing at the threshold of what could be miraculous. It could change you, it could save you, it could redeem you. It could fix all the broken parts inside of you.
And if you make the mistake of walking away, you will be haunted by regret for the rest of your life. He is selling the dream – and he can sell the hell out of it.
It can be played a lot of different ways, depending on the performer’s interpretation, as long as they understand that first and foremost, Sacred (Heidi's name for this gender fluid version) is a manifestation of other people’s fantasies. Any truth about who Sacred is in their own life is unknowable. You see what Sacred wants you to see, only.
Sacred’s ability to project your own secret fantasies right back at you is so powerful that it ultimately transcends gender. It’s like trying to place a gender on magic – it’s not possible and would be missing the point.”
There are numerous small stage directions sprinkled throughout the score, but they are by no means complete or to be considered limitations. Rather, they are starting points to help the soloist find a way to inhabit this character.
To me, this work is a role, not just a text setting. To me, it's a vehicle for this character.
Heidi Decker's work has intrigued me for a long time. I first spoke with her in 2005 about setting another of her pieces, but never managed to get it on my composing agenda. Still, I continued (and continue) to be moved and fascinated by her work. There are some poets and authors whose work resonates musically with me as I read it, giving me a palpable sense that it is singing itself within me. Heidi's work does this for me. I find her characters incredibly honest and vulnerable, even when they may be striking a pose for the world.
– Steve Rouse