“To Quince, "Motherland" means our natal home, worthy of love, critique, and support. It represents the terrain of those who identify as women, as mothers of varying types - creators and producers and life-givers and life-sacrificers. Mother-land is both embodiment and inversion of Emily Dickinson’s “Nature, the gentlest mother” - capable of supporting all life, and of obliterating it with forces as simple as a breath of air. This album features never-before-heard recordings of pieces by Laura Steenberge, Gilda Lyons, Cara Haxo, and Jennifer Jolley. As long as we have breath left in us, we will sing our gratitude, our love, our frustration, and our hopes. There is no greater privilege.” — from the liner notes by Quince EnsembleWith this bold statement, Quince Ensemble presents its ambitious, socially engaged second album with New Focus, "Motherland". Featuring premiere recordings of works by Gilda Lyons, Laura Steenberge, Cara Haxo, and Jennifer Jolley, Motherland’s range is as wide in terms of subject matter as it is in terms of sonic palette. Gilda Lyons wrote Bone Needles after being inspired by the work of women in Nicaragua who were repairing nets on the beach. The women used long needles made with fish bones-- Lyons explores the ways in which musical elements similarly weave and mend together, using a vocabulary of abstract vocal sounds. Laura Steenberge’s The Four Winds explores the mystique of the North Star, and its significance in an imagined ancient past before we had other tools to track our way. Cara Haxo’s Three Erasures are based on ingenious poetry by Emily Corwin that “erases” words from Teen Vogue magazine articles, exposing the mass media’s complicated and fraught relationship with women’s appearance and bodies. When she wrote Prisoner of Conscience Jennifer Jolley could not have imagined the deep added relevance her work would take on in post 2016 election America. Jolley chose to write a work about the arrest and trial of the Russian female punk group Pussy Riot by Putin’s regime for their outspoken criticism of his government. As Pussy Riot has remained engaged and critical of government abuses in Russia and the West and now that Russian meddling in the U.S. election and connections with the White House are front page news, Jolley’s subject matter and strong stance supporting the Russian band seems prescient. In our current climate of insecurity and doubt about the political future of the world, it is heartening to see young artists stand up and make work that proclaims their convictions with authority and commitment. Quince Ensemble is such a group, and this album, while years in the making, is extremely timely both in its engagement with women’s issues and civil liberties that are foremost on many minds in 2018.
1. Gilda Lyons: Bone Needles 04:06
2. Laura Steenberge: The Four Winds: I. Look at the nations and watch 03:20
3. Laura Steenberge: The Four Winds: II. Howling like a jackal, moaning like an owl 02:38
4. Laura Steenberge: The Four Winds: III. North, East, South, West 01:30
5. Laura Steenberge: The Four Winds: IV. Pneuma 04:10
6. Laura Steenberge: The Four Winds: V. Red Giant, White Dwarf 02:49
7. Cara Haxo: Three Erasures: I. grime, in between 03:24
8. Cara Haxo: Three Erasures: II. cut mermaid 03:07
9. Cara Haxo: Three Erasures: III. hot ember (a postlude) 02:29
10. Jennifer Jolley: Prisoner of Conscience: I. Eve of destruction 03:45
11. Jennifer Jolley: Prisoner of Conscience: "This trial is highly typical..." 01:01
12. Jennifer Jolley: Prisoner of Conscience: II. Virgin Mary, put Putin down 02:26
13. Jennifer Jolley: Prisoner of Conscience: "Our sudden musical appearance..." 01:24
14. Jennifer Jolley: Prisoner of Conscience: III. Oh bondage, up yours! 01:41
15. Jennifer Jolley: Prisoner of Conscience: "Eto bylo iskusstvo?" 00:46
16. Jennifer Jolley: Prisoner of Conscience: IV. Putin will teach you how to love (the Motherland) 02:41
17. Jennifer Jolley: Prisoner of Conscience: V. Police and Thieves 03:13
18. Jennifer Jolley: Prisoner of Conscience: "...All of these things..." 01:44
19. Jennifer Jolley: Prisoner of Conscience: VI. Deliver Pavement 01:59
20. Jennifer Jolley: Prisoner of Conscience: "Pussy Riot's performance..." 01:27
21. Jennifer Jolley: Prisoner of Conscience: VII. Death to Prison, Freedom to Protest 02:51
22. Jennifer Jolley: Prisoner of Conscience: "I don't want to label anyone..." 00:53
23. Jennifer Jolley: Prisoner of Conscience: VIII. Prisoner of Conscience 01:52
