Interview with John King, Composer of Dice Thrown

by Melissa Wimbish

Composer, John King’s new opera, Dice Thrown, premieres on April 23-24, 2010 at CalArts. Tickets can be reserved online at http://calarts.edu/events. Operagasm is excited to have had a few words with him. Check it out!

What was it about Mallarmé’s text that inspired you to set it in this manner? Do you remember the first time you read the poem? Did the idea come to you immediately?

I was setting other Mallarmé texts, to be combined in a group of songs with texts by Verlaine, Baudelaire, Rimbaud and Artaud. At the end of this one collection was Un coup de Dés/Dice Thrown. I was immediately struck by its visual appearance, by its use of different text styles and font sizes and by the sound of the words when read in French. There is no rhyme scheme per se, but the words have what I call an “internal rhyme”, where vowel sounds within words of a phrase or line are the same, or consonant sounds are reiterated, so that I immediately heard these wonderful shifting rhythms of sound.

What were some of the reactions to the idea when you first presented it?

As is often the case with my music, the “contemporary”, “new music” presenting organizations rejected the idea and the piece. The “established”, “traditional” Lincoln Center accepted the idea and the piece. It is so wonderful that New York City Opera has the VOX series where new operas are performed in excerpted versions. And it’s so fortunate for me that the then-director of the VOX festival (in 2008), Yuval Sharon was so open and excited and enthusiastic about the whole concept. I remember he called me up and I was sure it was to say that my application to VOX was incomplete or that I should come and pick up my materials because the piece was rejected. But NO!! He was so positive and wanted to know more, how would the musicians’ parts work, how would the singer [at the time there was only 1 soprano in the piece] get her cues if the order and length were always changing, how would everyone read the stopwatch [there is no conductor to the piece, only a stopwatch which is telling people when to play and when to be silent]?

Did you have any specific voices in mind when you were composing? If so, what lasting impressions did these people/voices make on you to earn that recognition from you?

Not really, though I guess I’m drawn to what’s called, I believe, a “lyric” soprano or mezzo. Or a “Mozart” soprano or mezzo. Though in terms of voices and quality, I’m equally drawn to Edith Piaf as well as Maria Callas.

You were probably expecting this question: Can you explain in more detail how the configuration of the opera is determined by a computer-generated time code? From the description I read, it sounds like there are pieces that make up the opera, but that the order of those pieces is determined each night….am I way off? Does this mean that the text isn’t always delivered in the original order?

Yes, that’s exactly right. Each night the order changes, the durations of each aria changes (within set limits), the orchestral music changes so that sometimes a singer is singing with a full, complex orchestral texture, and the next night the same aria sung against a solo english horn (for example). The lighting changes, the video, the movement, the live electronics, etc. all change for each iteration of the piece, the changes being determined through chance operations and random number generators [that is "I" have nothing to do with it!]. We do the opera in two “acts”, each act being a different version of the poem, so that the audience can experience this “shift” within a single evening’s performance. And it will be a premiere every night!

What is the biggest challenge, if any, that the element of spontaneity has brought to the production? How did the performers (singers, dancers, orchestra) respond? How did the crew respond? Would you use this method of spontaneity again in other compositions?

I have used this method in many of my instrumental and vocal compositions. This is the first time there will be ALL of the musical and theatrical elements being treated in this way, so we’ll see. I know from the comments from the marvelous soprano, Melissa Fogarty, who performed the two VOX versions, that, though she was nervous and hesitant when learning the material and realizing what was being asked of her, when she was in the performance situations, it actually FREED HER to interpret the musical material, to shape and improvise the phrasings in new ways (even unexpected ways for her). She did two incredible performances of the piece – each one exquisite in its own unique way.

Were/Are you involved in pretty much all aspects of the rehearsal process? Musical rehearsals, staging, tech, design? Or were you inclined to stand back and watch it being created by others?

I am trying to act as a “director” to ensure there is no director!! I’m trying to tell the entire creative team, “Bring your own understanding and inspiration from the poem into your work,” “Allow your work to function INDEPENDENTLY of the other elements,” and “The poem is non-narrative, allow your thinking to be the same.”

What is one of the most important things you learned from this work?

Being constantly surprised by the work – being amazed at the results and realizing I had little, if anything to do with it.

What is the first opera you remember seeing or hearing and what was your reaction? Do you have a favorite opera and/or favorite opera composer? How would you describe your own singing voice?

My first opera was Madame Butterfly. I went with my then high school girlfriend and she was wearing an over-the-top ball gown and a tiara; I was wearing a tuxedo with tails, white bow tie and cranberry Converse HiTops. We cut through the crowd rather easily. The first opera I saw as a [perhaps] mature adult was The Magic Flute at the Met here in NYC. Since then I’ve been in love with all Mozart operas – and the Singspielen especially. I guess I’m a baritone, though in my funk/noise/rock days I was mostly, what might be called, just “hollering”.

Who are your biggest musical influences? What musician/conductor/director would you love to collaborate with in the future?

There are many, but to name a few: John Cage and Jimi Hendrix; Erik Satie and Radiohead. I’ve always loved the work of Richard Foreman, and since discovering that he, like myself, was an early fan of Bertolt Brecht, I like him even more and would love to work with him sometime!

Do you think that a young demographic would easily identify with this piece? Why or why not?

One element that cuts through the entire performance is the live electronics part. This means that various (and chance determined) sections are sampled, processed, moved around in the theater and treated in ways that link its content to the sounds occurring in much contemporary popular/hip-hop music. The results are very different but the sound world is similar. It allows for a singer to potentially sing a duet or trio with him/herself! I think the multiple layers of this work would easily engage a young audience.

Tell us about your upcoming endeavors! What’s next?

I have a new CD of string quartet music, 10 Mysteries, just released on the Tzadik label. And on May 15th we’ll have a CD release concert at Roulette in NYC. At the same concert, I’ll also be premiering a new piece for soprano and large ensemble called SAPPHO Presto Chango with the wonderful young soprano Charlotte Dobbs singing fragments of Sappho’s poetry. And I’m also beginning work on a new, two hour long string quartet entitled KOSMOS. And, if things go well with Dice Thrown I have some new ideas for my next opera based on a text by Jorge Luis Borges called The Library of Babel.

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John King is a composer, guitarist and violist. He has received commissions from the Kronos Quartet, Red (an orchestra), Ethel, the Albany Symphony/Dogs of Desire, Bang On A Can All-Stars, Mannheim Ballet, New York City Ballet/Diamond Project, Stuttgart Ballet, Ballets deMonte Carlo, as well as the Merce Cunningham Dance Co. His string quartets have also been performed by the Eclipse Quartet (LA) and theMondriaan Quartet (Amsterdam). His quartet Crucible has premiered many of his compositions at The Stone (June 2007) and The Kitchen (April 2009). He has written two additional operas to Dice Thrown includingHerzstück/heartpiece , based on the text of Heiner Müller which premiered at the 1999 Warsaw Autumn Festival and presented at the Kitchen NYC in 2000. His other opera, la belle captive, based on texts by AlainRobbe-Grillet, premiered at Teatro Colon/CETC in Buenos Aires in 2003 and toured to London’s ICA (Fronteras Festival) in 2004 and The Kitchen in 2005. King has three recent CD releases of music for string quartet, 10 Mysteries (Tzadik), AllSteel (Tzadik) and Ethel (Cantaloupe). He was Music Curator at The Kitchen from 1999-2003 and is currently a Co-Director of the Music Committee at MCDC. He is also the recipient of the 2009 Alpert Award in the Arts for Music Composition. King also is a CalArts alum; there he studied music and graduated in 1976.