With

For Harp, Voice, Piano, Duduk, Guitars, Strings, Natural and Synthetic Sounds.

 

· we are with, or alone ·

With: united; possessing something physical, psychological, imagined, or spiritual; in the company of; not alone.

'With' marks the thirtieth anniversary of the Web. Without the desire to share and cooperate, to be with, the Web would not have arisen at the time it did.

The Web is a global context for the exchange of data. Like all tools of exchange (my voice; the written word; broadcast, wired and wireless networks) it can be used positively, or negatively.

My life before the Web was very different compared to how my with is now.

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I ponder on whether love is more than thought, whether love exists outside my own experience.

Love requires another, or others, and yet I can be in hope for love and act for this when very much alone.

Love seems as much the search to be 'with', as my action and feeling, both to my senses and my mind: with understanding, with appreciation, with another: with those things I find beautiful.

I fall in love with selfless acts as much as any wish or gift of touch, given or received.

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Within: with and in; having the quality of; the limit of time, place, idea, or experience; where something exists physically, psychologically, or spiritually.

With doubt, pain, fear, and anger. At times these exist within me. I have the choice to use these experiences for or against another or others. By for another or others, I mean to the benefit of, rather than to harm. Choosing for is by far the most difficult path when I am with doubt, pain, fear, and anger, yet choosing for when with is the only means to build, rather than to break.

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Music

The first section of the music acts as both a mirror of a time without the Web, and as a representation of the different worlds we hold on our shared journey within it.

I had anticipated introducing synthetic sounds at the beginning of the piece, but for the first third an intimate, medieval-like treatment of the opening theme emerged.

As I continued to think about being with, I introduced repeating rhythmical synthetic motifs more usually associated with film music and technology. These become interwoven with patterns of sounds from the earth and nature: thunder, wind, rain, waves, fire, insects, and birdsong.

The last third of the piece features a large section of wooden drums and percussion, and the hubbub of a vibrant marketplace that grows louder, then quieter. As the background flow of water stops, the insistent rhythms that represent a never ending flow of data fades into the distance out of view.

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With Nature, Others, and Art

With is everywhere in nature.

We are born with.

Life is often lived with.

The self yearns to be with.

Words express most when placed alongside other words: when words are with.

Art in all its forms requires two or more elements to exist.

To be, art must be with.

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With Mind

I am with mind, or else I have no sense or hold of self.

With mind I feel and think what being is.

With mind I act and so my body does.

With mind all else becomes.

With mind I meet with you, we play, we love.

With mind my great unknown arrives.

With mind my journey on begins.

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With Touch

With touch the infant finds their way.

With touch in darkest place I reach to know.

With touch I sense the textures of all else.

With touch I show the kindness of my love.

With touch I make my feelings plain.

With touch I break the distance from my hope to be with you.

With touch I show my need for comfort in my final breath.

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With Light

With light, all life is built.

With light the speed of all is bound.

With light, I see the beauty of the sky and cloud.

With light the fear of dark recedes.

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With Sound

With sound I hear your voice.

With sound I cry, I make, I dance.

With sound I reach through solid walls to where you stay.

With sound we meet with voice and thought that moves the air as wing with flight.

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Four examples of my visual ponderings on the theme of with follow.