Julia Wolfe - Fire in My Mouth (2019)

00:00 I. IMMIGRATION. Growing trepidation and excitement before boarding a boat to New York. Glowing vocal chords (1:04) (1:38) (2:24) 03:58 Nervously energetic and rhythmic as the journey begins (4:30) 06:13 A piercingly beautiful cluster of strings and voices thickens, before becoming cheery and lively among woodwind and percussion flurries (7:22) (8:15) 09:34 A foreboding ending to the movement climaxing in a huge ringing cluster (10:54) 11:26 II. FACTORY. “Geiger counter“ strings, woodwind “jet whistles“, deep percussion booms, etc. evoke the sounds of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, slowly growing to an enormous intensity 15:31 A mournful Yiddish folk-tune comes out of the noise, overlapping with a lively Italian tarantella (16:40) Climax among wild wind trills and cluster tremolos (17:41) 18:46 The slow and ominous opening and closing of scissors ends the movement 20:08 III. PROTEST. A protest chant, propelled by grooving percussion and gradually thickening harmony 22:09, 23:18 Feisty, desperate declamations of the girls’ dreams to become Americans. Burning vocal chords (24:54) 26:10 The beat continues as Clara Lemlich speaks out against intolerable conditions. Biting final chord (27:42) before a beautiful wash of bowed guitar and strings 29:36 The groove picks up again. Hypnotizing polyrhythms singing various textile terms 31:32 A determined, fiery ending to the movement 32:48 IV. FIRE. “like in a strange dream.“ Noises of string instruments, as the altos hum a dreamy melody 34:13 A driving strappata beat, increasingly frantic cries of “fire“ (36:00) 37:14 Sirens sound (strings violently gliss upwards) (38:28) 39:19 Solemn and stunned as workers begin to jump out of the burning factory (40:33) 41:33 “Irrational, Wild, Incoherent.“ Extremely violent tremolos, trills, and glisses as more workers jump 43:37 Rose Schneiderman’s speech, “serious, focused, quietly distraught“ 45:07 Bells ring out as the names of the 146 victims are sung out in a gorgeously bitter ending Score available from Ricordi/Red Poppy Music: Fire in my mouth is based on the garment industry in New York City at the turn of the century, with a focus on the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire and its aftermath. Drawing upon contemporary accounts of immigration, labor, and activism amongst the garment workers of the Lower East Side, Fire in my mouth brings the world and words of the garment workers to the forefront. Composer: Julia Wolfe (December 18, 1958 – ) Orchestra: New York Philharmonic conducted by Jaap van Zweden Chorus: The Crossing directed by Donald Nally Girls’ Chorus: Young People’s Chorus of New York City directed by Francisco J. Núñez How I make my videos: Program I develop for this channel: