Thirteen Near-Death Experiences

In the Can

coreyneardeath — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:07:34 +0000

ICE and I just wrapped up a recording session of Thirteen Near-Death Experiences at the lovely Mt. Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA. Here’s a photo of us after we finished the session. Unfortunately, our drummer, David T. Little, left before the photo shoot.

L-R: David Bowlin (violin), Kivie Cahn-Lipman (cello), Ryan Streber (recording engineer), Corey Dargel (composer/singer), Eric Lamb (flutes), Jacob Greenberg (piano), Joshua Rubin (clarinets)

Photos from the Premiere Performances

coreyneardeath — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:32:01 +0000

Photos by L. Gabrielle Penabaz

Click here for the full-screen slideshow on Flickr.

Performers: Corey Dargel and the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE)

Composer/Lyricist: Corey Dargel

Choreographer: Yvan Greenberg

Stage Director: Emma Griffin

Assistant Stage Director: Jordan Fein

Lighting Designer: Mike Inwood

Musicians: Corey Dargel, vocals; Eric Lamb, flutes; Joshua Rubin, clarinets; David T. Little, drums; Jacob Greenberg, piano; David Bowlin, violin; Kivie Cahn-Lipman, cello.

Post-Show Post

coreyneardeath — Mon, 25 May 2009 02:57:55 +0000

Many many thanks to all those who came to the premiere performances. ICE and I were very pleased to have such responsive (and full) houses for both shows! Please stay tuned — RSS feed — for videos from the show and for news about a studio recording.

Presently I am on the verge of post-show depression which I will attempt to stave off by watching this video of my friend, Scott Heron from New Orleans, performing “A Few of My Favorite Things:”

Teasers

coreyneardeath — Fri, 22 May 2009 15:20:09 +0000

Tonight and tomorrow are the premiere performances! Here is some preview press we’ve received.

from this week’s issue of Time Out New York

from this week’s issue of the New Yorker magazine:

INTERNATIONAL CONTEMPORARY ENSEMBLE: “NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES AND OTHER LIVE ACTS”

Some artists communicate their intentions in neon lights, lest we miss them. “Thirteen Near-Death Experiences,” a new piece of music theatre by Corey Dargel, seems to be a departure from his wellestablished (and cunningly made) mock-trivial art-pop style. It will be the major offering in a concert by the stunningly expert new-music band that also features three other world-première scores, by the young composer-performers Stephen Lehman, Nathan Davis, and Mario Diaz de León. (P.S. 122, First Ave. at 9th St. 212-352-3101. May 22-23 at 8.)

from today’s NY Times:

ICE (Friday) The centerpiece of this program by the energetic ICE (International Contemporary Ensemble) is “Thirteen Near-Death Experiences” — a work about delusions and hypochondria — by the inventive young composer Corey Dargel. Music by Nathan Davis, Mario Diaz de León and Stephen Lehman fill out the program. At 8 p.m., Performance Space 122, 150 First Avenue, at Ninth Street, East Village, (212) 477-5829, ps122.org; $20; $15 for students and 65+. (Allan Kozinn)

Someone Will Take Care of Me

coreyneardeath — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 16:25:13 +0000

In a meeting with Emma and Yvan a few days ago, we discussed an emerging progression in the songs so far. There’s a sense of moving through someone’s life — following the different health-related issues that concern him in childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, middle age, and old age. It seems that the songs in Thirteen Near-Death Experiences can be presented in an order that makes such a progression implicit, if not obvious.

So what does the end of that progression look like? What would be the final thoughts expressed in this piece? Almost all of the songs in Thirteen… have a mood of extreme loneliness, so I thought the final song should present a possible remedy.

I remembered the first time I was sick away from home — my first time being sick and having no one around to help take care of me. I had to make my own soup. I had to go to the grocery store nauseous to buy soda and saltines. That’s part of the inspiration for this song — the finale of Thirteen Near-Death Experiences. When the singer finally succumbs to his unavoidable terminal illness, when he’s admitted to the hospital in serious condition, his loneliness will at last be assuaged… because someone will be required to take care of him.

The instruments in this song are: flute, clarinet, drum set, piano, violin, and cello. I have some concerns that the lyrics may be over the top (although I also have a strong desire to change the line “Someone who never scowls” to “Someone who never scowls when my bowel growls” or “Someone who never scowls at my fowl bowel”). I also want to know if/how I should musically fill in the gap between the second chorus and the third verse. What do you think?

Someone Will Take Care of Me

Audio has been removed.

Download Score (PDF)

I’ll be a shut-in someday soon
Trapped in a white-walled room
Festooned with black and yellow roses
My prognosis absolutely hopeless
But…

Someone will take care of me
As illness devours
My mortal clay
Someone will be constantly aware of me
Helping me shower
Wiping my tears away
Someone will be there for me
Every hour
Of every day

Someone who’ll wrap me in warm towels
Someone who never scowls
Someone who’s cautious not to scold me
And when I’m nauseous, someone to hold me

Someone will take care of me
As illness devours
My mortal clay
Someone will be constantly aware of me
Helping me shower
Wiping my tears away
Someone will be there for me
Every hour
Of every day

[What to put here? Instrumental solo, more lyrics, a dance?]

Someone who’ll hold my dead hand
Someone who’ll empty out my very last bedpan

Someone will take care of me
As illness devours
My mortal clay
Someone will be constantly aware of me
Helping me shower
Wiping my tears away
Someone will be there for me
Every hour
Of every day

Instrumentals: Prelude and Interlude

coreyneardeath — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:37:37 +0000

Here are two instrumental numbers in which the musicians of ICE get to show off their incredible skills. “Prelude” opens the piece in a subdued and (I think) slightly strange way, which of course I like. No grand overture, no grab-the-audience fanfare. Just a quiet, cautious, repetitive exercise. The intense focus of the performers is the driving force behind “Prelude.”

“Interlude” is a place right in the middle of the piece where I get to take a break and do something besides sing. I might have a glass of milk and/or do a private dance to blow off steam!

The instruments in “Prelude” are: piccolo, clarinet, castanet, piano, violin, and cello.

Prelude

Audio has been removed.

Download Score (PDF)

The instruments in “Interlude” are: flute, bass clarinet, drum set, piano, violin, and cello.

Interlude

Audio has been removed.

Download Score (PDF)

Touch Me Where It Counts

coreyneardeath — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 20:11:04 +0000

Continuing with the doctor-patient relationship theme, here’s a song in which the patient becomes more aggressive. I think it’s a nice change of tone from the other songs, which tend to be more cautiously pathetic. This song lays it all out on the examining table — an ultimatum perhaps.

The instruments in this song are flute, bass clarinet, drum set, piano, violin, and cello. Musically, I’ve been a little more conservative with this song, incorporating a lot of doubling (many of the instruments playing the same material at the same time) and less rhythmic independence. But the singer’s part is perhaps more iconoclastic than any of the other songs, pushing against the instruments most of the time. I hope it works…

Touch Me Where It Counts

Audio has been removed.

Download Score (PDF)

Our chronically platonic
Doctor-patient relationship
Is an immense source of tension
Seven individual physicals
Five urgent emergencies
What will it take to get your attention

Why don’t you touch me where it counts
Shove your ounce of compassion
Into a hundred forty pounds of satisfaction

It’s no fictional condition
My presumptive consumption
Yet it strikes you as outrageous
You tell me you can’t help me
You insist that you won’t miss me
But your incredulity is contagious

Why don’t you touch me where it counts
Shove your ounce of compassion
Into a hundred forty pounds of satisfaction

How impressively aggressive
Is your delusional conclusion
That I do nothing but malinger
Do you really not believe me
Or are you deceptively deceptive
I see no wedding ring on your finger

Why don’t you touch me where it counts
Shove your ounce of compassion
Into a hundred forty pounds of satisfaction

Impotent Teeth (a palette cleanser)

coreyneardeath — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 01:58:22 +0000

Here’s a very short, very straight-forward song based on the oral hygiene issues I refered to in an earlier post. This song will probably be placed somewhere in the middle of “Thirteen Near-Death Experiences” as a respite. It is silly, but I like it.

The instruments are alto flute, clarinet, egg shaker, piano, violin, and cello.

Impotent Teeth

Audio has been removed.

Download Score (PDF)

Evidently based on
This metallic taste on my tongue
There is something wrong with
My right lung

See how my deplorable breath
Suggests quite a horrible death

All kinds of mouthwash
Won’t help my chances
You could always quash
All of my advances
You would wince
And ask me to rinse my mouth out

To you I bequeath
All my impotent teeth
Hold them in your hand
Try to understand
I can brush my tongue
But I cannot brush my lung

This Is What We Do in Rehearsals

coreyneardeath — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 22:48:10 +0000

Everybody Says I’m Beautiful

coreyneardeath — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 22:13:54 +0000

I’ve decided to procrastinate doing my taxes and instead make a new blog post with a new song, “Everybody Says I’m Beautiful.” Okay, so this song is arguably not related to the theme of hypochondria, but I have a strong inclination to include it in this piece. Why is that? Maybe it’s the final song of the piece — the grand finale (finalé?) — and I have to figure out how to get from the more obvious examples of hypochondria to this more-general body-image theme — looking in the mirror, seeing my body fall apart. Hmmm…. There must be a connection. What do you think?

The instruments in this song are: clarinet, percussion (tambourine, snare drum, triangle), piano, violin, and cello.

Everybody Says I’m Beautiful

Audio has been removed.

Download Score (PDF)

My hair is no longer blond
My lips are no longer red
And that totally breaks my heart
I’ve got almost no hair on my head
I look a little more dumb than smart
I’d almost rather be dead
Than watch my body fall apart

My mommy says I’m beautiful
My daddy says I’m beautiful
Well, everybody says I’m beautiful

What a sight I am to behold
I couldn’t look any queerer
The end is ever nearer
I’m getting older
Every time I look in the mirror

My mommy says I’m beautiful
My daddy says I’m beautiful
Well, everybody says I’m beautiful

My boyfriend says
My girlfriend says
Everybody says