I I'm You
for solo mezzo-soprano (2016, 8 min.)

I I'm You (2016, 8 min.)
for solo mezzo-soprano
Written for Kayleigh Butcher

premiere
Kayleigh Butcher - mezzo-soprano
Spectrum | New York, NY
2/4/17

note
The text for this piece requires some explaining. When I was first approached about writing a solo vocal work, I wasn't sure where to begin looking for a text. Many of my favorite poems and writings aren't in the public domain, so I considered writing my own text, but that wasn't working for me either. In my frustration, I started messing around on my iPhone. While message a friend, I noticed the three different "predictive" text suggestions in gray boxes, which appear above the iPhone keyboard. The three different suggestions read "I," "I'm," and "You." I decided to click on each of them over and over to see what kind of message the iPhone randomly produced. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I was astounded by the result of this arbitrary act. The messages were simultaneously gibberish yet poetic, meaningless yet mysteriously moving. What struck me was that this "predictive" messaging function actually calculates the words that I use most in my messages, so when I clicked on the suggestions over and over, it was spouting back my own words through its own technological mechanism. I started thinking about the role that technology plays in art, and I was mystified that an algorithm programmed in the iPhone could randomly produce something that had an emotional and artistic impact on me. This forced me to consider whether if in our attempt to find the humanity in our technology, we instead, perhaps, only really perceive a reflection of ourselves. After all, it wasn't the iPhone that gave this text meaning, it was me that did that. I wanted to further explore whatever humanity I may have found in these random messages through music, in an attempt to weave together a story with the technologically organized fragments of my own words.

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I I'm You text generated by the iPhone "predictive iMessage setting
1.
I'm sorry it's okay you can make it to your bed but I can't sleep I feel so sorry to you have you always got me a bad day (and) you still have a great time with me you darling you darling you have to do something to do you have to come back you have a great day
2.
You [are] so so much fun with the best you guys go through the same day so so excited (and excited about you) tomorrow so so excited (and excited about you going on tonight) [mon petit chou] at work at lunch from your room for dinner at nighttime for you [are you seeing anyone?]
3.
I love you so much too much and
I love you so much too much and
I love you so much too much and
I love you so much too much and

*brackets indicate text added by the composer
​**parentheses indicate text not included in the setting