A RURAL REQUIEM; OR THE GREAT SILENCE (for ensemble)

A Rural Requiem; or, The Great Silence (2024-2025)

voices, ensemble, narration, and projected text (90’)

for my family

and for Heather,
an echo in all that quiet

I N T R O D U C T I O N

Silence is the fundamental condition of rural life: vast, unyielding, and terrible in its immensity. Every song, every story, every tradition is a flicker of defiance against it.

Rooted in the musical traditions of Texas, this requiem is an account of my rural experience: an upbringing shaped by silence, by survival, by inheritance, and the grace that binds it all together.

P R O G R A M

I. Abide with Me (Introit & Kyrie): for Bobby Joe Sr.

II. Leaving Cheyenne (Gradual): for Doris and Bascom

III. The Great Silence (Tract): for Heather

IV. The Dust Bowl (Dies Irae): for Shorty and Sarah

V. Colorado Trail (Lacrimosa): for Sue

VI. Sobre las olas (Offertory): for Mencho, María Adela, Lalo, María Geronima, Gollo, Genoveva, and Dionacia
a. Una noche serena y oscura
b. Popurrí
c. Despedida

VII. Sally Goodin (Sanctus): for Bill and Ruth

VIII. All the Pretty Little Horses (Lux Aeterna): for Ella, Ayla, Ira, Catherine, and Adela

IX. Softly and Tenderly (Agnus Dei): for Rosa

X. The Thresher (Libera Me): for Paul and Nancy

XI. Take my Saddle from the Wall (De Profundis): for Ira and Martha