Xingyi (Betty) Chen, piano
March 22, 2022 | Kilbourn Hall | Eastman School of Music

In An indecipherable cause I undertook a purely instrumental “setting” of Wallace Stevens’ poem “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” for solo piano. Attracted by the multiplicity of perspectives that Stevens affords his blackbird, I sought even further levels of reflection by rendering the spectral components of the spoken text into quantized pitches and then subjecting the material to various levels of algorithmic processing and abstraction. The nature of the reconstruction excludes the possibility of extended techniques: I felt that this was fitting, as the piece was written for my friend Lily Koslow on their home upright during the COVID-19 pandemic. On a personal note, this poem is one that has offered me comfort in difficult times, and the process of working on it with Lily similarly provided solace and joy.
—JZ

An indecipherable cause—  VII.

An indecipherable cause—  VI.

An indecipherable cause—  V.

An indecipherable cause—  IV.

An indecipherable cause—  III.

An indecipherable cause— II. (Contrapunctus arbusculatus)

An indecipherable cause—  I.

Ashrey Shah, clarinet
Antonio Jarvey, alto saxophone
Justin Zeitlinger, electronics

April 7th, 2022, Eastman Audio Research Studio concert "OUTPUT~"
Hatch Recital Hall | Eastman School of Music

YTBF attempts to reconstruct—both acoustically and electronically—a stretched sample of right-wing extremist commentator Glenn Beck angrily reading the poem “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus during the 2010 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Repetition is used to highlight the sonic and semantic qualities of the spoken words, which form an ironic commentary on tolerance, freedom, and hatred.

YTBF

YTBF (2020)

Antonio Jarvey, alto saxophone
Justin Zeitlinger, live electronics
Parker Callister, lighting

April 7th, 2022, Eastman Audio Research Studio concert "OUTPUT~"
Hatch Recital Hall | Eastman School of Music

The Bodhisattva of Compassion
from the depths of prajña wisdom
saw the emptiness of all five skandhas
and sundered the bonds that cause all suffering.

Know then: 
Form here is only emptiness;
emptiness only form.
Form is no other than emptiness;
emptiness no other than form. 
Feeling, thought, and choice—
consciousness itself—
are the same as this. 

Dharmas here are empty; 
all are the primal void. 
None are born or die, 
nor are they stained or pure,
nor do they wax or wane. 

So in emptiness no form,
no feeling, thought, or choice,
nor is there consciousness.
No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind,
no color, sound, smell, taste, touch,
or what the mind takes hold of,
nor even act of sensing.
No ignorance or end of it,
nor all that comes of ignorance:
No withering, no death, no end of them.
Nor is there pain, or cause of pain,
or cease in pain,
or noble path to lead from pain;
not even wisdom to attain:
Attainment too is emptiness.

So know that the Bodhisattva,
holding to nothing whatever,
but dwelling in prajña wisdom,
is freed of delusive hindrance,
rid of the fear bred by it,
and reaches clearest nirvana.

All buddhas of past and present,
buddhas of future time,
through faith in prajña wisdom,
come to full enlightenment.
Know then the great dharani,
the radiant, peerless mantra,
the supreme, unfailing mantra,
the Prajña Paramita,
whose words allay all pain.
This is highest wisdom,
true beyond all doubt;
know and proclaim its truth:

Gate, gate (Gone, gone)
paragate (Gone beyond)
parasamgate (Gone fully to the further shore)
bodhi, svaha! (Awakening, hurrah!)
–Heart of Perfect Wisdom (Prajña Paramita Hridaya), Buddhist sutra

The further shore is dedicated to the memory of Shannon Leah Pinkston (1966–2021).

The further shore (2021)

Lily Koslow, piano
studio recording

In An indecipherable cause I undertook a purely instrumental “setting” of Wallace Stevens’ poem “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” for solo piano. Attracted by the multiplicity of perspectives that Stevens affords his blackbird, I sought even further levels of reflection by rendering the spectral components of the spoken text into quantized pitches and then subjecting the material to various levels of algorithmic processing and abstraction. The nature of the reconstruction excludes the possibility of extended techniques: I felt that this was fitting, as the piece was written for my friend Lily Koslow on their home upright during the COVID-19 pandemic. On a personal note, this poem is one that has offered me comfort in difficult times, and the process of working on it with Lily similarly provided solace and joy.
—JZ

An indecipherable cause— XIII.

An indecipherable cause— XII.

An indecipherable cause— XI.

An indecipherable cause— X.

An indecipherable cause— IX. (Contrapunctus circularis)

An indecipherable cause— VIII. (Hommage à Ligeti)

An indecipherable cause— VII.

An indecipherable cause— VI.

An indecipherable cause— V.

An indecipherable cause— IV.

An indecipherable cause— III.

An indecipherable cause— I.

JBUP

Justin Zeitlinger (b. 2000) composes music for acoustic instruments and electronics. His work reconciles diverse interests—from language, to physics, to Buddhist spirituality—in seeking to examine questions of identity, perspective, loss, and transformation. Justin’s music has been performed by the Orlando Philharmonic, the PUBLIQuartet, the National Youth Orchestra of the USA, OSSIA New Music, and AIR Contemporary Music Collective Beijing, as well as by numerous solo musicians whom Justin is grateful to call collaborators and friends. He has received additional awards and distinctions from BMI, ASCAP, and the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation.

Justin graduated in 2022 with a B.M. in Composition (with highest distinction) from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, Matt Barber, Bob Morris, and Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez. He also is active as a new music violinist, and studied violin at Eastman under Oleh Krysa. Justin previously studied composition and violin at the Juilliard School’s Pre-College division from 2013 to 2018. Originally from New Jersey, he currently resides in the mountains of northern New Mexico.

Justin Zeitlinger

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