Fragments from "The Wanderer"
Todd Tarantino
About this work:
"The Wanderer" is an anonymous eleventh-century poem found in the Exeter Book; scholars consider it among the greatest poems of the Anglo-Saxon age. It speaks of
a world of harsh weather, decay and ruin and the steadfastness of heavenly comfort in the face of such torment. To set fragments from the text I turned to my own experience, translating wind sounds I have recorded into the work's harmonies. Among the winds presented are those of the ruins of Muhammad Tughlaq's palace in Delhi, the desolation of the Turfan Depression; the Mintaka Pass in the high Karakorams, used by Silk Road
traders; and the pilgrimage circuit of Xiahe, in Gansu province, China. In using my own wanderings to locations contemporary to the original text, I hope to enact the
environment of the poem's wanderer as well as lend a certain realism to the protagonist's plight. By using the original Anglo-Saxon, I hope to emphasize the sense of dislocation that effects any wanderer, whether traveller, pilgrim or refugee.
Year composed: 2009
Duration: 00:15:00
Ensemble type: Voice, Solo or With Chamber or Jazz Ensemble:Voice with Large Chamber/Jazz Ensemble (10 +)
Instrumentation: 1 Flute, 1 Clarinet, 1 Trumpet, 1 Trombone, 1 Percussion (General), 1 Violin, 1 Viola, 1 Cello, 1 Double bass, 1 Soprano