IF YOU CAN READ THIS

Posted on February 26, 2014October 31, 2023 by Reginald Unterseher

Two SATB choruses and SSAATBB septet

A view from the future– what will cultures see and understand of the warnings we leave behind to mark the places where we have stored or abandoned our most dangerous waste, materials that will be lethal for from hundreds to thousands of years? The poem, from Kathleen Flenniken’s book PLUME, is grounded in the ideas in the proposed Yucca Mountain monument project, but set at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. A setting for three groups of singers. Recording and more information and score below.

About The Score: Upon first viewing, multiple chorus scores can be visually daunting. This score has been formatted to fit the full score onto letter size pages. If you want larger conductor scores or singer scores for the individual choruses, contact me.

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PROGRAM NOTE

This piece is a setting of the last poem in Kathleen Flenniken’s book “Plume,” published by the University of Washington Press. The collection centers on her experiences growing up in Richland, Washington during the height of the Cold War and later working as a civil engineer on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. This poem is based on the nuclear waste repository warning monument project, which wrestled with the question of how to mark the location of areas that will be deadly for thousands of years. What language or symbols will carry the clear message “Don’t dig here, there is hidden danger” to generations far in the future, as language and culture changes, knowledge is gained or lost, and civilizations shift? How do we tell future archeologists to keep out? The piece is set for three groups of singers. Two groups, from the sides, function as the voices of today, a kind of Greek chorus, while the group of seven in the center represent people in the future trying to understand what the symbols mean.