DESCRIPTION:
Privilege
Ted Hearne

Te Deum Chamber Choir
www.te-deum.org
Matthew Christopher Shepard, conductor

Live performance, November 16, 2015
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Kansas City, MO

1. motive/mission

motive/mission

you were always fair
you were almost always kind
weren’t you?

you always reached out your hand
you almost always refused to lie
didn’t you?

you wouldn’t close your shining eyes
would you?

2. casino (2:45)

it’s almost like a casino
you’re looking at the guy winning,
you’re looking at the guy who pulled the lever
and all the bells go off
and all the coins are coming
out of a one-armed bandit
and you’re thinking
that could be me.
i’ll play by those rules.

3. burning tv song (5:33)

flashing window
empty street
burning tv song

flashing window
empty street
burning tv song

flashing window
empty street
burning tv song
stay

4. they get it (7:50)

we pretend to need them
we pretend to educate the kids
but we don’t
and they’re not foolish
they get it

5. we cannot leave (10:15)

we cannot leave
this land of our ancestors
on this earth

we are being killed by the monster
on this earth

shuku shuku

oh, mother, it’s leaving me behind!
i want to get on the train
to get on the train in the morning
i want
oh, mother, it’s leaving me behind!

Program Notes by Ted Hearne:
The composer writes: Privilege is a collection of five short pieces. The first and third movements are both little snapshots of a contemporary privileged life, set to texts written by a contemporary privileged person (me). “Motive/mission” captures the thought-stream of an ambitious and conscientious individual, at the moment those thoughts are interrupted with a circumstance that begs uncomfortable comparisons: “How much of my life is given? How much is earned?” “Burning TV Song” is a love letter to the comfort found in a modern media apparatus whose output so alluringly confirms our visions of ourselves.

The second and fourth movements are set to portions of an interview with David Simon (creator of HBO’s The Wire) by journalist Bill Moyers, which aired in April 2009 on PBS. “Casino” sets Simon’s response to Moyers’ question: “Why do you think that we tolerate such gaps between rich and poor?” “They Get It” addresses the idea that there is a large segment of our population - Simon guesses 10 to 15 percent - whose existence is unnecessary to the American economy, especially those who are “under educated, that have been ill served by the inner city school system, that have been unprepared for the technocracy of the modern economy.” Until there is a place for them in the American ideal, Simon posits, drug trafficking and other illegal activity will provide a more viable financial option.
The final movement, “We Cannot Leave,” is set to the translation of As’ Kwaz’ uKuhamba, a black South African anti-apartheid song, the original words of which are in Xhosa (the native language of Nelson Mandela). South Africa has a strong tradition of music being used as a tool to fight societal oppression and inequality. The setting is a tribute to that practice. MONSTER = Apartheid, SHUKUH = sound of the train to freedom.

Sopranos: Rebecca Brinkley, Lucy Conklin, Katherine Dick, Julianna Fox, Suzanne Hatcher, Rachel Marschke, Meredith McFarland, Sydney Seratte, Stacy Van Hoecke

Alto: Joanna M. Davis, Mariana Farah, Rachel Gilmore, Sara Goering, Josepha Haden, Jana Hutsler, Katie Kendle, Nanette Kraus, Ann Lewis, Natalie Parish

Tenor: Tom Assel, Chris Gilmore, Alex Goering, Micah Horton,
Jeff Howe, Eli Jones, Nathan Jones, Bram Wayman

Bass: Eric Abney, Kyle Chamberlain, Jon Duncan, Paul Eltschinger, Nick Gillock, Josh Maize, Ryan Occeña, Ryan Oldham