The Discovery

(a piece of music)

INGREDIENTS:

2 violins
2 violinists
4 timpani
2 stools
2 shy children
1 microphone on a stand
30 woodblocks played by MIDI-controlled devices
1 french horn
1 large oxygen cylinder
1 tape recorder
1 giant castle set constructed by Rob Witmer

EXECUTION:

1.) Lights up on 2 violinists, who begin playing a canon duet that grows in complexity and dischord.

2.) 2 shy children peek from behind the curtain. They whisper to each other, continually venturing onstage then retreating backstage as 4 timpani descend from the rafters.

3.) A spotlight bleats on, exhibiting a french horn connected to a large oxygen cylinder. The audience laughs.

4.) The timpani rest silently on the stage floor. The violin duet grows menacing. Giggling from the children backstage.

5.) The audience laughs again, though nothing has happened.

6.) The children reluctantly emerge, each with 2 mallets. One crawls onto a stool placed between 2 of the timpani. The other approaches the microphone stand and spends 1 full minute adjusting the stand height. The child speaks into the microphone: "There were 3 ships. It was raining. No one knew who they were...the men rowing to the shore. It was pretty scary." The child scampers hastily to the second stool positioned behind the other 2 timpani.

7.) An awkward note blurts from the french horn, courtesy of the oxygen tank. No one laughs. The violins stop.

8.) From pure silence, the 2 children begin playing the 4 timpani very tentatively. They have no prior percussive experience. Slowly, they begin to crescendo and play more rapidly.

9.) As the timpani sounds increase, the child's voice is heard as if amplified, though no one stands at the microphone: "There were 3 ships. It was raining. No one knew who they were...the men rowing to the shore."

10.) The french horn blurts out another note. A tape recorder falls from the rafters onstage and smashes into pieces. It still manages to play its tape, though greatly distorted: the sound of audience laughter.

11.) The 2 violinists begin playing again. Suddenly, 30 woodblocks operated by MIDI-controlled devices break into an unbearable cacophony. Over the noisescape, the child's disembodied voice is heard again: "It was pretty scary."

12.) The 4 timpani begin to rise back into the rafters with the 2 children still playing. Once they are out of sight, a massive castle set crashes thunderously onto the stage. All sound stops. Dust clouds swirl. After 10 minutes, the lights begin to fade. It takes half an hour before they reach black.