The Mask Of Sanity
David Hahn
About this work:
PROGRAM NOTES
That special voice—the one you wanted to hear more often than all the others—is now saying the right things. You were not sure what to do next but now you know "you can do anything you want."
The title comes from a book of the same name by psychologist Herve Checkley who discusses the way psychopaths assume a "mask of sanity" allowing them to operate in the world unnoticed. These can be people such as the serial killers or school shooters
or even heads of state who condone torture and start wars under false pretences.
To organize the piece, I used some dialogue from the film Donnie Darko in which a psychotic teenage boy is consoled by Frank, a large rabbit-man. I selected Frank's words and used them as signposts thoughout the piece leading off different musical sections. The piece was assembled in ProTools using sounds generated mainly from an electric guitar and a baritone guitar.
Year composed: 2006
Duration: 00:04:15
Ensemble type: Electronic Instruments and Sound Sources:Prerecorded Sound
Instrumentation: