Excerpt of a live performance by the Princeton University Composer's Ensemble.
Number Man
(a cantata for the ghost of J.S. Bach)
for oboe/EH, solo voices,
and optional chorus
Duration: 30'
1990
Instrumentation: oboe/english horn (one player), SATB solo voices, optional chorus
"Number Man (a cantata for the ghost of J. S. Bach)" was supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. From one point of view, Number Man is a cantata for oboe with voices obligato. From another, it is an oboe concerto accompanied by voices. The text is by Carl Sandburg. Number Man is dedicated to oboist Kathy Geisler and was inspired by her love of the Bach Cantatas. The movements of the piece are as follows:
I. Prelude
IIa. Fives and Tens
IIb. Pastorale
IIIa. Sixes and Sevens
IIIb. Burlesca
IVa. Twos and Fours
IVb. Musette
Va. Eights and Nines
Vb. March
VI. All the Numbers
VII. A Million Cipher Silences
VIII. Love Numbers, Luck Numbers
IX. Goodbye Number and Invocation
To order a score and parts contact Terra Non Firma Press