Tenney-Three Indigenous Songs (P) P/2PICC/AFL/BN or TU

Three Indigenous Songs is a 1979 work for wind and percussion ensemble by American composer James Tenney (1934–2006), published by Smith Publications (Sonic Art Editions). Commissioned by New Music Concerts with the assistance of the Ontario Arts Council and dedicated to Lionel Nowak, the piece grew out of Tenney's longstanding interest in the acoustics of the human voice. Rather than featuring a vocalist, the work uses instruments to simulate the formants and noise transients of speech sounds through a strict transcription process applied to recordings of three indigenous songs. The result is a compositionally rigorous work that unifies intellectual method and emotional expressiveness in a way that has made it one of the more significant chamber works in Tenney's output.

The three movements are titled: 1. No More Good Water; 2. Kosmos; 3. Hey When I Sing These 4 Songs Hey Look What Happens.

Work Details

• Composer: James Tenney (1934–2006)
• Publisher: Smith Publications (Sonic Art Editions)
• Composed: 1979
• Commissioned by: New Music Concerts with the assistance of the Ontario Arts Council
• Dedicated to: Lionel Nowak
• Genre: Wind & Percussion Ensemble
• Duration: 15:00
• Number of players: 6

Movements

• 1. No More Good Water
• 2. Kosmos
• 3. Hey When I Sing These 4 Songs Hey Look What Happens

Instrumentation

• Piccolo I & II
• Alto Flute
• Tuba or Bassoon
• Percussion I & II