Commissioned by The Crossing, Donald Nally, conductor
made possible by the Dale Warland Singers Commission Award presented by Chorus America and funded by the American Composers Forum
[Animated Perusal Score here: http://issuu.com/joelpuckettmusic/docs/i_enter_the_earth_perusal_v.1.1]
I enter the earth was premiered by The Crossing on June 14, 2015 as part of their Month of Moderns Festival.
All text for I enter the earth was spoken by Kxao =Oah of northwestern Botswana in 1971, interpreted and translated by Marguerite Anne Biesele and then edited by Joel Puckett.

It is excerpted from "Folklore and ritual of !Kung hunter gatherers,” Ph.D. Dissertation Dept. of Anthropology, Harvard University©1975 Marguerite Anne Biesele (current pen name Megan Biesele) and used with permission.
Grateful acknowledgement is made to Dr. Biesele who has granted permission to set and reprint these words. She asks that anyone moved by them consider making a donation to:

The Kalahari Peoples Fund
PO Box 7855
University Station
Austin, TX 78713-7855
(512) 771-4097
When people sing ... I enter the earth. I go in at a place like a place where people drink water. I travel a long way, very far. When I emerge, I am already climbing. I climb threads. I climb one and leave it.
...
When you arrive at God's place, you make yourself small. ...
You do what you have to do there.
...
Then you return to where everyone is, and you hide your face. You hide your face so you won't see. ... And then you come and come and come and finally you enter your body again. All ... who have stayed behind are waiting for you. They fear you.
...
You enter, enter the earth, and you return to enter the skin of your body ... Then you ... sing.

I Enter The Earth [The Crossing, LIVE]

I grew up with "A Series of Unfortunate Events," but ever since I first read the series, the ending has always felt a bit...unsatisfying.  Today, after watching the recent (and utterly fantastic) Netflix adaptation, I dive into the series to try and find why the ending has left me feeling so let down for years.  And, spoilers, it's not because of the unresolved arcs.

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