listening / context

"Knee Play 1" is the opening piece of the opera. As you can hear above, all you hear at first is a very simple, low registered electric organ part playing the notes la-sol-do over and over again. Layered on top shortly thereafter are panned female voices simply reciting numbers (i.e. 2, 3, 4). It is said that these were originally recorded as placeholders so that the singers could memorize texts. The texts were never recorded, however, and the resulting "random" numbers that you here are what remained.

Soon after the solo numbers are heard, the piece develops to an even greater degree with the addition of a full bodied chorus. The chorus is heard singing the adjacent beats accompanying the aforementioned "la-sol-do" pattern being played by the electric organ (La = 1, 2, 3, 4, Sol = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and Do= 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8). As the piece develops, the chorus begins to leave out certain beats, replacing the beats with silence (i.e. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).

Perhaps the most intriguing contextual part of this piece are the spoken texts. Panned from ear to ear and relatively low in volume when compared to the rest of the work, it is hard to distinguish many of the words. As I mentioned earlier, these spoken texts are actually lyrics taken from the poetry of Christopher Knowles, a mentally-challenged young man with whom Wilson had worked with while serving as an instructor of disturbed children in New York. Here is a sample of the text:

"Would it get some wind for the sailboat. And it could get for it is.

It could get the railroad for these workers. And it could be were it is.

It could Franky it could be Franky it could be very fresh and clean.

It could be a balloon.

All these are the days my friends and these are the days my friends.

It could get some wind for the sailboat. And it could get for it is.

It could get the railroad for these workers. It could get for it is were.

It could be a balloon. It could be Franky. It could be very fresh and clean."

(lyrics courtesy of nicolas.sceaux.free.fr)

This song structure (of spoken numbers, text, choral numbers, and electric organ) continues on for a total of roughly eight minutes. About halfway through the work, the piece develops slightly again, with the addition of extra choral parts underneath the numbers. For the most part, however, as is the case with each of the 5 Knee Plays, the structure is kept relatively simple and repetitive.