In Memory's Safe (2023)

Program Notes:

In Memory’s Safe is a piece inspired by my visits to Sommerset, Galsgow, and Bardstown, Kentucky during the early Spring of 2023. During these visits, I met with people from each community to ask them what tunes, songs, hymns, or musical traditions they felt represented them and their communities. What I learned was that my question stemmed from an erroneous assumption that there were unifying traditions or tunes that broadly represented each of these towns and the people who lived in them. Instead, we had conversations about the confluence of several influential traditions and styles that groups of people from these communities might identify with. During two of the visits, people performed some of these songs for me. I came away with a long list of songs and tunes to listen to, new friends, and a deeper understanding of these communities in my hometown state. Perhaps most importantly, I realized after posing this question to so many people that I didn’t have a good answer to it myself. I was forced to investigate my own relationship to the music I find foundational to me, my state, and my community and the ways I do and do not engage with it. This understanding, along with the encouragement of Sommerset-based artist Dan Dutton, led me to the final form of this piece. I present In Memory’s Safe as my response to the tunes I collected featuring orchestral textures and gestures imbued with my own Kentucky voice.

The tunes used are:

1. Lord Bateman – traditional ballad via Dan Dutton
2. Grapefruit Man – original song by Daniel Stroud (used with permission).
3. Maria’s Gone – traditional song via Carmel Bowman

Lastly, the title In Memory’s Safe suggests the existence of an actual safe were memories can be kept. We hold the traditions, influences, and music at the core of this piece safe in our memories – we are Memory’s Safe.