Artwork by Lucy Malarkey (Instagram: @lucy._3000 )

Part 2

"May All Your Children Be Acrobats," by David A. Jaffe is scored for eight guitars, mezzo-soprano and computer-generated tape. Composed in 1981 for David Starobin and the SUNY Purchase Guitar Ensemble, the piece is a celebration of folk wisdom, as well as folly.  It is based on a text excerpted from "The People, Yes" by Carl Sandburg and consists entirely of proverbs, sayings and anecdotes from the rich and varied backgrounds of immigrants, natives, fools and other Americans. Complementing this text is a heterogeneous music that draws on such styles as bluegrass, Irish, Jewish and African-American music, as well as American popular and European classical styles. 

The computer part was created at the Stanford University Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics. It is entirely synthesized, yet often resembles voices and plucked strings, using techniques pioneered by the composer and others at Stanford University. These techniques, known as "waveguide physical modeling" have recently been adopted by the synthesizer industry and are considered an advance over more familiar techniques due to the enhanced degree of expression. This work is the first musical composition to use this form of synthesis. It was followed a year later by the composer's more well-known "Silicon Valley Breakdown."

The recorded excerpt is from the a live performance with Kim Wheeler, mezzo-soprano, and the Purchase Guitar Ensemble, conducted by David Starobin. 

For further information, please visit jaffe.com


May All Your Children Be Acrobats (excerpt) - 8 guitars/voice/comptuer

David A Jaffe

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