witness. (2012)
(Quartet for electric guitar, soprano saxophone, percussion, piano and electronics)

An embodied moment: a ricly textured awareness of the present and of the raw physical existence of one's body in that present. A crystallization of the now, a moment in which we remember that we are alive and that we are not alone. A hyperawareness of time and self that elides both, pausing, just briefly, on the razor's edge of what has been and what will be. each pulse of hte heart irretrievable, each contraction of the lungs a memento mori. My music attepts to establish a perceptual space in which individuals can experience such moments on their own terms.

The English word 'witness' can be understood as a noun or verb: a witness is an observer, often of a crime, while the verb 'to witness' as conjugated in the title is a command, a call-to-arms to observe the world and each other. In the music. beyond the obvious correlation of audience to witness (of the performance), this concept of witnessing is evoked in the intense coordination required between musicians. Much of the scoe depends on cues and moment-to-moment listening rather than strictly notated rhythms to propel it forward. It is only through these four bodies moving together, witnessing each other's smallest actions. that the bodies of sound they control are able to dissolve and coalesce, sffuse and mask, and distort and denature one another – perhaps encourating other bodies in the room to feel more intimately the gentle tension of skin enveloping muscle, fat, and blood or the heat of exhaled breath on the lips.

The work is dedicated to Ensemble Nikel, a group of musicians who not only play but listen well, and to German writer Günter Gass, whose poem "Was gesagt werden muss [What Must Be Said]" was published as I was completing this work. Grass's poem criticizes the states of Israel and Germany, as well as the Western world at large, for their roles in escalating the threat of nuclear warfare. Consequently, Grass was declared a persona non grata by the state of Israel and widely denounced in mainstream German and US media as anti-Semitic – an accusation Grass rightly claims to be often levied against those who speak out against the state of Israel. Conflating criticism of a specific government with hatred for an entire people is an abomination that should offend any rational thinker. The dedication to Grass is meant to express full-throated solidarity with hiss call to foster the open discourse necessary for the prosperity of, in this particular situation, the people of Israel, Iran, and the occupied Palestinian territories. To state it plainly, Israel's occupation and apartheid systems, much of which has been deemed ty the vast majority of nations to violate international law, pose a grave threat to peace in the Middle Eastern states – including Israel – as well as in the rest of the world.

There are no direct paralleles or symbolism in the musik. Instead, the relations are more abstract: There is violence and there is a silence and near-silence. There is an attempt to focus the listening onto subtleties, to perceive the present moment to the fullest possible degree. There is precision in the physical relations between bodies inside the piano and the coordination with the guitarist, who is seated away from the center of activity. If witness. has a political message, then it lies in this mindful, intense awareness of our actions and how they fit with others('). We have to listen to each other better – all of us. Vigilantly.

Mark Barden