Broken
Broken
Wheaton College Women's Chorale
Mary Hopper, director
Family Weekend Choral Showcase Concert
Recorded November 9, 2018 at the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music - Wheaton, IL
William Bausano, conductor; Cloie Dobias, piano
World premiere recording
Commissioned by the Miami University Choraliers, William Bausano, conductor, and supported, in part, by Patty Morrison, Class of 1980 and Choralier member, 1978-1980
Broken is simple and repetitive music. My use of repetition is deliberate, as these cyclic patterns of behavior and anxiety are the manifestation of our brokenness. Megan Levad’s poem “When a compass is broken” captures this isolation perfectly. Her words resonate deeply with me, as I hope they will also with those who sing and hear them. Once we recognize our cycles, our awareness expands, and we begin the necessary step of breaking our patterns and being reborn anew.
This music is humbly dedicated to my dear friend William Bausano and the Miami University Choraliers.
-- Dominick DiOrio
December 2017
"When a compass is broken"
by Megan Levad
from What Have I to Say to You (2017)
When a compass
is broken
it can be replaced
needle, cork, shallow dish
is all it takes
More difficult
is learning
the compass is broken
That part takes decades
of wandering in the desert