small, still voices, for orchestra

small

still

voices

for orchestra

Paul Paccione

small, still voices for orchestra These four pieces were inspired by my reading of Kenneth Rexroth’s translation of 8th-century Japanese poetry, entitled One Hundred Poems from the Japanese (New Directions, 1964). The poems express a deep consciousness of the seasons and the individual pieces are arranged according to the their cycle. I have tried to capture the same subtle effects of the poetry in the music.

Paul Paccione, 1997 Flute Oboe English horn Bb clarinet Horn in F Violin I Violin II Viola Violoncello Contrabass (All instruments in the score “sound where written” except for the contrabass which sounds one octave lower.)

Published by Frog Peak Music, Box 1052, Lebanon, New Hampshire 03766; www.frogpeak.org

i. autumn The hanging raindrops Have not dried from the needles Of the fir forest Before the evening mist Of autumn rises.

The Monk Jakuren.

ii. winter The snow falls and falls.

The mountains and meadows sleep.

Only an old mill Stays awake.

Okura Ichijitsu iii. spring As I approach The mountain village Through the spring twilight I hear the summer bell Ring through drifting petals Noin iv. summer The lower leaves of the trees Tangle the sunset in dusk.

Awe spreads with The summer twilight Sone NoYoshitada