PERUSALSCORE
for Violin, Alto Saxophone, and Piano (2015)
PERUSALSCORE
Spencer Arias He Said There Was No Sound
PERUSALSCORE
for Violin, Alto Saxophone, and Piano (2015)
Program Note:
At the completion of this piece, there had been 50,219 gun-related incidents in 2015—12,717 of those ended in death. Multiple sources dispute the definition of a mass shooting as different things. Some sources (typically those that argue for less strict gun control laws) inflate the definition of a mass shooting at four or more victims (victims as defined by fatalities). In contrast, other sources describe victims as injuries and deaths. Regardless of these statistics, mass shootings in America have plagued our schools. In 2015 so much that you could not go a week without hearing about a mass shooting in the media.
President Obama, who was outspoken regarding this subject, said in response to a shooting in Oregon, “Somehow this has become routine. The reporting is routine. My response here at this podium ends up being routine. The conversation in the aftermath of it. We’ve become numb to this.”
Beyond all this talk about gun control, we rarely talk about victims who get injured or witness these atrocities. The PTSD that occurs is hard to report because, by the time these victims have a chance to breathe after a couple of days, another mass shooting has most likely occurred. The media moves on to a new city or news cycle, but these victims do not move on. They can’t move on. Their best friends are being murdered in front of their eyes. Soldiers conditioned to see violence experience PTSD, but average civilians with no training are just taught to sit there and move on? This is horrifying.
This piece explores these concepts of moving on. It’s a distant memory. The event occurs so quickly that it is as if I never heard a sound. One victim said these words in an interview with a journalist, which broke my heart.
This piece was commissioned by the Rogue Trio based in Tempe, AZ. They asked me to write something after being affected by shooting in Flagstaff, AZ but wanted it to be about the victims, not the shooter or the political implications. Now in 2022, the amount of gun violence events has not become better, and the politics of the day have made it even more mind numbing to see these tragedies happen. The political inaction of our government has made this a political problem, so while the piece is not political, my reflection 7 years later is one of disgust. This piece, explores anger, sadness, and contempt for the lives that those in favor of loser gun control have 100’s of thousands of deaths on their hands. This is their fault.
Performance Note:
Normally I do not care about the presentation of extra musical material, but with this piece, it is essential that either this program note, or one written by the performers is read out loud or at least appears in the program. This issue is too important to worry about offending someone. If someone is offended, I encourage them to ask themselves why are they offended to hear the truth. Why are the offended to no mourn with you the death of children at the hands of political inaction.
PERUSALSCORE
During the mournful portion of the piece, I ask the pianist and violinist to sing while playing. This can be done in any comfortable register. It should be sung on an “ah” or “ooh” syllable as long as it is coordinated between the two performers. It should be somewhat soft as an added textural effect.
—Spencer Arias 2015
brief pause