Description
This work is inspired by Beethoven’s F Major String Quartet, Op. 135: III. Lento assai, cantante e tranquillo. The quote of Beethoven’s chorale serves as a reminder to what we perceive and expect to be normal, but this representation quickly dissolves and we are forced to listen a little deeper to find the true meaning.
Freya Manfred sets these words in her poem “To Be Known:” “How can we truly see and hear each other?” I think it will take us years to heal from what we went through with the pandemic, and during this tumultuous time we became more separated than we ever had been. In the piece, I explore who we were, what we became, and how we can heal from events in the past few years. The third movement of Beethoven’s F Major String Quartet, Op. 135: III. Lento assai, cantante e tranquillo, serves as the foundation, our perceived “normal life” and what we expected our future to look like. From there it deconstructs itself, forcing us out of where we think we belong and requiring us to analyze our positions and paths in a changed world. Social distancing pulled us from our communities to self-isolate and quarantine, and I believe that in many ways it helped divide us further, for it became harder to connect with each other’s humanity. But on the other hand, our increased time alone helped us deepen our self reflection, sparking or renewing our commitments to a better life that is more aware and inclusive.
-Jocelyn Hagen
Performed by Conspirare, Craig Hella Johnson, director
Text
To be known is rare. To see and be seen.
How can we truly see and hear each other?
Even the most confident and supple hide something
from themselves, or from you and me.
Sometimes what is hidden wants to be known
even when we can’t find the words or gestures,
and sometimes what we conceal happened so long ago
that memories can’t carry all the truth.
So we stutter. We stumble. We understand, then we don’t.
We have to be reminded that we are as welcome
as we make each other, or ourselves.
To be known is rare. To see and be seen.
Someone out there may move into your heart
and warm your skin as you warm theirs,
the way you swallow the sun’s breath—
that light that embraces and shapes the spark inside you.
To be known is rare. To see and be seen.
Knowing even one person can seem impossible.
But we’re fond of each other. And we’re worth it.
I want to know you. And I see you.
So it’s your turn. You see me.
~ Freya Manfred, from “Loon in Late November Water”
Adapted by Jocelyn Hagen