Program Note:

Diving into the Wreck, for orchestra, chronicles the journey of Adrienne Rich’s eponymous Homeric epic. Comprised of five short movements titled after lines in the poem, this piece aims to depict the tactility, depth, and drama of Rich’s writing, ranging from the violent strength of the plunge to the unexpected discovery of washed-up debris.

Overflowing with allusions, the text invokes themes of queer historicity and gender inequality as the narrator explores the wreck, at once surveying history and calling attention to the omitted and overlooked.

Movements:
I: I Put On
II: I Go Down(attacca to III)
III: What I Came For
IV: This is the Place
V: Our Names Do Not Appear

“We are, I am, you are
by cowardice or courage
the one who find our way
back to this scene
carrying a knife, a camera
a book of myths
in which
our names do not appear.”
- Adrienne Rich, Diving into the Wreck