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Shawn Crouch, Refrigerator Poetry (2001)
Refrigerator Poetry was written this year for Sam Solomon's senior recital and will receive its premiere performance tonight. The composer provides the following note:
Refrigerator Poetry is derived from the familiar party game in which word fragments are attached to the front of a refrigerator. The night begins with scattered words; slowly people begin assembling small phrases, each building upon the last person's entry. As the night progresses, complete sentences form; and sometimes even paragraphs.
The first movement is a slow assembling of words which begins to deliver meaning as the words are filled in. The idea is that as a collective whole, the complete sentence is always there, it simply takes time to fill in the gaps. Therefore, I jump in between using freely spoken words, and words that are articulated within the context of a sentence with only certain words being voiced. As the movement progresses, the unspoken words become fewer, and are slowly first articulated using their consonances, then whispered underneath the fully voiced words, hence creating depth in a seemingly one dimensional concept.
Two personalities are at play within this movement. One is the foolish, and sometimes blind role of the dreamer, the other is the theoretical, and sometimes just as foolish, analytical personality. The two are not speaking to each other, but rather it's like reading two excerpts from their personal journals.
Refrigerator Poetry was written for Sam Solomon, to whom I owe an enormous amount of thanks for making this work happen.
Shawn Crouch, composer, conductor, pianist, has had his works performed by the Prism Saxophone Quartet, the Peabody Trio, and members of both the Miracle Orchestra and the New England Conservatory Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Crouch has worked in collaboration with dance choreographers Julia Altschuler, Jeffrey Smith, and Cynthia Stephens. In March 2000, Mr. Crouch premiered Tones, Colors, and Apparitions at the New England Conservatory; a multi-media composition that included collaborations with the Ensemble Suspension Dance and Art Collaborative. Mr. Crouch is currently working on a piece for orchestra entitled, Earth Tones, to be premiered by the Yale Philharmonia in October 2001.
In June 2000, Mr. Crouch completed a two-year internship with New England Conservatory's Learning Through Music program where he conducted portfolio research and assessment under the direction of Lyle Davidson and Dr. Larry Scripp.
Shawn Crouch has studied composition with Ezra Laderman, Malcolm Peyton, and John Bavicci. He has attended the Berklee College of Music and The Peabody Preparatory studying classical/jazz piano, composition, and horn. Mr. Crouch received his BM in composition from the New England Conservatory and is currently a candidate for the M.M. in composition from Yale University.
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