Gramarye

Gramarye for chamber ensemble explores the interstices between music and language. Grammar is regarded today as an ubiquitous study instilled in us from a young age in school. In the Middle Ages, however, knowledge of grammar was scarce enough to be considered a form of sorcery by the layman. Along with logic and rhetoric, grammar formed the core of the seven liberal arts known as the trivium. The term “gramarye” now has connotations of occult learning, magic, and necromancy. This new work springs from this mystical view of grammar and learning in general. Gramarye presents many variations of its opening harmonic material in textures that are each controlled by unique, sound grammars. Excerpts from preexistent texts are woven into the formal, rhythmic, and harmonic structures of the piece. These include references to gramarye in the Towneley plays and Sir Walter Scott’s The Lay of the Last Minstrel. I do not intend these processes to be recognized and carefully followed by the listener, but rather I aim for them to lend the music an underpinning structure and personal meaning, which allows a metaphorical resonance with the source materials to blossom. Gramarye was commissioned by the Utah Arts Festival for Sinfonia Salt Lake and was premiered on July 22, 2019, in Salt Lake City. This work was made possible in part with the support of Crosstown Arts in Memphis.