Descort for Riotous Orchestra

By | 1 September 2013

(after Langston Hughes’s Chant for May Day)
to be read by a Worker with, for background, the pulsating waves of a Mass
Orchestra, multiplying its sounds like the roar of a mighty Cascade.




WORKER:
 
 
 
 
 
10 INSTRUMENTS:
 
20 INSTRUMENTS:
40 INSTRUMENTS:
 
 
 
50 INSTRUMENTS:
 
WORKER:
10 INSTRUMENTS:
20 INSTRUMENTS:
40 INSTRUMENTS:
50 INSTRUMENTS:
 
WORKER:
10 INSTRUMENTS:
10 OTHERS:
10 OTHERS:
10 OTHERS:
50 INSTRUMENTS:
 
WORKER:
50 INSTRUMENTS:
10 INSTRUMENTS:
20 INSTRUMENTS:
30 INSTRUMENTS:
40 INSTRUMENTS:
50 VOICES:
 
WORKER:
20 INSTRUMENTS:
40 INSTRUMENTS:
60 INSTRUMENTS:
80 INSTRUMENTS:
100 INSTRUMENTS:

(two cynics enter, sing amorous song, then exit)
truth that evening’s in the Square
when the bowed heads ruptured the earth,
when the sounds followed the baton.
when the violin tuned to its orchestra,
workers:
be like this violin.
we intone in the strength of our unknown
power, (improvocation in E minor)
grow out of the passive world
grown strong with perfect harmony
bows and lips together—
to beautify this situation, this Spring,
and every Spring
forever for the Workers!
(improvocation in A major)
Workers:
be like the strings playing to the baton,
strengthening each note,
no part neglected—
reaching every world.
(improvocation in C major)
all Subjects:
migrant workers,
student workers,
farmer workers,
workers in urban and nonurban communities
Eternity speaks from our future,
(improvocation in F# minor)
when our passionate tones rise
common Eternity speaks.
(sharp tones rising)
(disjunctive rhythms infolding unharmoniously)
(shifts to Ab, Chorus of the United Front joins in)
when the baton rises,
when the baton falls,
(dominant 7th , all improvocate together)
our fates join, all Peoples of all worlds:
rise up! rise up! rise up!
even in the most mundane circumstances,
we’ll subtract ourselves in this time,
look! the forces of this world are ours,
look! the whole world is turning on its head!

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