Charles Amirkhanian Collection ➔ Hoy (In His Memory): A Radio Drama, 2 of 2
Analog Audio
Event Type
MusicOrigin
C AmirkhanianIdentifier
G.DOD.CHA.01.BProgram Length
55 minPart
2 of 2Dates
| broadcast| 402 | created
Description
According to the creators: “’Hoy (In His Memory)’ is a narrative symphony for integrated vocal text and computer synthesis. It is a dramatic musical composition designed specifically for radio broadcast.The libretto is adapted from a section of Dale Worsley’s novel ‘Ringer Pike.’ The title character, Hoy, lives in the hills of West Virginia. He is a self-employed auto mechanic who lives by bartering repairs for his daily needs. The entire narrative symphony takes place thorough Hoy’s thoughts, as he recalls the past year of his life, which was filled with emotional extremes of love, loss, joy, and sorrow.
Hoy is the sort of person who takes a long time to verbalize his thoughts. His presence is dominated by long silences between terse utterances. Much of the music of the work represents the preverbal formation of Hoy’s thoughts. Typically, for example, a passage of music composed of pitch, noise, speech,fragments, and sound effects accumulate momentum until it bubbles up to the surface, and becomes part of Hoy’s conscious speech.
‘Hoy (In His Memory)’ is realized on tape. The sound material contains several levels:
a) the libretto, performed by actor David Brisbin
b)Naturalistic sounds, primarily those from the rural Southern environment where Hoy lives.
c) Three classes of composed (computer synthesized) sounds:
1) Sounds based on David Brisbin’s voice.
2) Sounds based on the naturalistic sounds used in the piece.
3) New created, abstract sounds.
These sounds are independent but interactive. They change in accord with Hoy’s mental and emotional state, and they will often blur, on into the other, as the subjective point-of-view changes and the piece develops.”
Note: The commissioning of this work was made possible with funds from the Meet the Composer/Reader’s Digest Commissioning Program, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Fund.
Genres
HörspielMusical Selections
Hoy (In His Memory), a radio drama for voice and computer synthesized tape [part 2, text by Dale Worsley] (1989) (29:48) / Charles DodgePerformers
David Brisbin, voiceSubjects
HörspielRadio plays
Monologues with music
Related place
Berkeley (Calif.) (was broadcast at)Related Entities
Dodge, Charles, 1942-Worsley, Dale, 1948-
Brisbin, David