Melissa Dunphy - "I am the World"
Melissa Dunphy - I am the World
I am the World is an exceptional example of how a composer can use age old compositional techniques and create something brand new.
I am the World, commissioned by BBC Radio 3, was premiered in London by the BBC Singers, led by Grace Rossiter, on March 8, during a program to celebrate International Women's Day. The entire concert, which includes four world premieres, can be streamed on the BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert (click here). Dr. Melissa Dunphy is a Philadelphia based composer and performer specializing in vocal and political music. For I am the World, she adapted the poetry of Irish poet Dora Sigerson Shorter, written in 1898. In I am the World, Dunphy gives herself a chance to show off her prowess in counterpoint, text setting, and choral scoring.
I am the World opens with immediate imitation in the lower voices, giving the audience a chance to both grasp the text, as "I shall arise" is repeated multiple times, and aurally label this material as an important motive for the remainder of the work. In fact, I am the World is a perfect example of how a composer can spin an entire piece out of a short musical fragment. Once Dunphy cycles through this opening material, she gives us the first full melodic phrase in the soprano voice, a lengthening of the original four-note motive. The section continues to develop with imitative counterpoint in all four parts. While this does have a tendency to obfuscate the text, Dunphy indirectly tells us which lines of text she considers important to the listener by having melodies phase back into doubling one another or sustaining long notes to not detract from the text. In listening to this rhythmically intricate, yet clear, music, one never gets a sense of losing track of the lyrics unless Dunphy has already introduced them in a previous section, and such a consistent implementation of recurring motives allows the audience to coherently comprehend her music.
Dunphy's modal harmonies are commonplace in contemporary choral music, however, she effectively throws us for a loop with well-placed chromaticism at key words and cadences. The piece begins and ends in a sense of B minor, more specifically an aeolian mode, or natural minor scale. Dunphy solidifies the tonal center so much, that we do not hear any semblance of chromaticism until an E major chord more than a minute or so into the piece. Her sparce, yet functional placement of chromatic harmony separates her music from that of her peers, and allows the listener to be emotionally impacted by modulations, rather than be confused and distracted.
Overall, Dunphy has composed a gorgeous and engaging new piece, perfectly celebrating International Women's Day. The BBC Singers, except for the occasional out of tune tenor, gave a stellar premiere and represented Dunphy's work well. I am the World is an exceptional example of how a composer can use age old compositional techniques and create something brand new. Since the piece is both emotionally intense and relatively simple to understand, I hope to see it receive many future performances.
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