"The Cold Pane sets five poems by esteemed Kentucky author, farmer, activist, and scholar, Wendell Berry. The cycle alternates between poems that describe the external, natural world—and particularly, the seasons—and poems that describe the internal, human world of grief. This basic opposition between external and internal carries with it other, related oppositions: cyclical versus linear conceptions of time and life, light versus darkness, and objectivity versus subjectivity. I composed the songs dealing with the natural world according to more-or-less strict processes—systems that, once set in motion, operate according to their own internal logic, without adjustment or interference on my part. My aim was to mirror, in a metaphorical way, the physical laws of the natural world. In contrast, for the songs dealing with the internal, human world—“The Cold Pane,” and “The Widower”—I wrote in a much more intuitive, spontaneous, and traditionally lyrical mode. “The Widower,” on a personal level, describes exactly an experience my father had, and it was with this poem that I began to build a cycle. As a whole, the cycle explores how we continually seek meaning in and attempt to draw significance from the qualities and events of the natural world, and asks whether the meaning and significance we find there is revelation, or just an imposition of our human desires, or both. When is nature actually speaking to us, and what can we know? 

Canon and imitation are central to the piece, both as formal constructive devices, and, more abstractly and poetically, as metaphors for one entity following or searching for another. The work’s harmonic structure oscillates between two centers: G-sharp minor and A major. This semitone relationship intentionally references the related tonal structure of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony—a piece that has a very special place in my heart. The final song in The Cold Pane, “Again,” uses the harmonic series and the acoustic principle of sum tones as a sonic metaphor for the rebirth and return to light evoked in the song’s text. 

This piece’s unusual instrumentation grew out of two desires: first, to create an ensemble in which all the performers could stand; and second, to reference, but not explicitly duplicate, the instrumentation of the bluegrass band—a sound world and singing style that has been a major source of inspiration for me. Previous works of mine have drawn inspiration from certain folk singing traditions from Kentucky—particularly, Appalachian ballad singing and Old Regular Baptist hymnody. The influence of these traditions is less prevalent here, though the folk-wisdom quality of the words for Berry’s “The Cold Pane” did briefly invite a hymn-like sound world into the piece. In any case, this piece continues my investigation into the people, places, and cultural practices of my home state." —Shawn Jaeger

Shawn Jaeger - The Cold Pane - Talea Ensemble

Lucy Dhegrae