Letters from Prison (1991) - for John, continue the fight
Two pianists begin trilling prior to the first audience member arriving to the space. Their trilling slowly progresses from the lowest range of the keyboard towards middle C. Guests are free to talk and find the seats as they arrive. The pianists play in this range until at least ten minutes after the official concert start time, which is marked by a dimming of the house lights. As if from nowhere, the audio tape begins with a male voice. The text is excerpted from an inmates letters, describing his alienation and fears. This voice becomes stretched to abstraction during the 15 minute piece: the pianos continually trilling. The piece closes with both pianists trilling at the percussive highest range of the piano, their repetitive work symbolizing the limited range of possibilities of our inmate, forever moving but never really going anywhere.
Walled City Trilogy
c 1991 Donna Marie McCabe