I returned to this piece after quite some time. My original version, like so many of my "first tries" at a piece, left me deeply dissatisfied. In revisiting the work, I realized that the idea of having Kutter's modular poem being read in any order was a delightful concept that needed to be investigated differently.
Perhaps the setting would follow a more traditional technique of notated setting the text, with the body drumming being use to differently activate the vocal part. Perhaps at a dramatically vital juncture, the rigid written notation will give way to a more improvisatory, performer-centered notation, allowing the singer to fly more freely away from what I want and towards what they imagine. Perhaps the line "to sing" would be reserved for the end of the song, since that is what I want my modular reading to focus on. Perhaps this is what I did.
