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Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird

by Chris Hewitt

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1.
I 01:24
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2.
II 00:41
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3.
III 00:50
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4.
IV 00:39
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5.
V 00:56
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6.
VI 01:16
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7.
VII 01:28
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8.
VIII 00:34
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9.
IX 00:52
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10.
X 01:24
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11.
XI 00:55
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12.
XII 00:49
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13.
XIII 01:16
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about

A collection of short vibraphone solos inspired by the great American poet, Wallace Stevens. Each movement corresponds to one of the 13 haiku-like poems that make up Stevens' 1917 "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird."

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird
By Wallace Stevens

I
Among twenty snowy mountains,
The only moving thing
Was the eye of the blackbird.

II
I was of three minds,
Like a tree
In which there are three blackbirds.

III
The blackbird whirled in the autumn winds.
It was a small part of the pantomime.

IV
A man and a woman
Are one.
A man and a woman and a blackbird
Are one.

V
I do not know which to prefer,
The beauty of inflections
Or the beauty of innuendoes,
The blackbird whistling
Or just after.

VI
Icicles filled the long window
With barbaric glass.
The shadow of the blackbird
Crossed it, to and fro.
The mood
Traced in the shadow
An indecipherable cause.

VII
O thin men of Haddam,
Why do you imagine golden birds?
Do you not see how the blackbird
Walks around the feet
Of the women about you?

VIII
I know noble accents
And lucid, inescapable rhythms;
But I know, too,
That the blackbird is involved
In what I know.

IX
When the blackbird flew out of sight,
It marked the edge
Of one of many circles.

X
At the sight of blackbirds
Flying in a green light,
Even the bawds of euphony
Would cry out sharply.

XI
He rode over Connecticut
In a glass coach.
Once, a fear pierced him,
In that he mistook
The shadow of his equipage
For blackbirds.

XII
The river is moving.
The blackbird must be flying.

XIII
It was evening all afternoon.
It was snowing
And it was going to snow.
The blackbird sat
In the cedar-limbs.

credits

released January 18, 2021

Wallace Stevens (1879-1955): source material
Chris Hewitt: composition/performance/recording

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all rights reserved

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about

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Chris Hewitt Denver, Colorado

Chris Hewitt is a percussionist and composer located in Denver, CO. Chris is active in several musical circles in Colorado's Front Range, including improvisational collective Le Secret, Gamelan Tunas Mekar, and chamber group Witches and Science. Chris's playing and compositions are informed by the jazz tradition, contemporary classical music, pop, rock, and the music of Indonesia. ... more

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