Words and Spaces (2005) 14 min
voice, piccolo/alto flute, oboe, clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon/double bassoon, French horn, trumpet, trombone, double bass
text: (Further) Last Words of Dutch Schultz
The composition is based on a real text widely known in the United States as The Last Words of Dutch Schultz. These are the deathbed ravings of a gangster nicknamed Dutch Schultz, who died in 1935. The biggest gangster of his time and the king of the New York mob, Dutch Schultz was shot by his own people when they believed that he had gone too far. The text is not given in the original, but processed with the help of stochastic algorithms (site Сomputer-generated poetry). The result is a Cubist portrait of the last hours of the gangster’s life.