Composer’s Note:

When I first read the poetry of Javen Tanner, I was immediately struck by the evocative, highly sensual language and imagery, as well as the profound and deeply personal subtexts. In composing this song cycle, I decided to set “Sudden Music,” a set of four poems from Curse For You Sake. Indeed, how could a composer resist a set of poems called “Sudden Music”!? My primary goal was to echo in music the reflective and intimate mood of the poetry, where retrospection, memory, and sexuality blend together in smoke from burning cedar.

Commissioned by Mormon Artists Group