As Long As Blood Flows

As Long As Blood Flows is a duet for two voices with electronic processing. The piece takes as its text a partial listing of contents from "What A Young Man Ought To Know," a tract written in 1897 as a guide to the perils of sexual activity of any sort. The listings here are from chapters 4, 5, and 6, all of which bear the same title: "Evils To Be Shunned and Consequences To Be Dreaded." The text, which is spoken and gradually harmonized, is used as base over which a soprano soloist sings wordless melodies. Although the text can be seen as humorous due to its arcane language and strident morality, there is a striking resemblance between the tone of its discussion of venereal distresses and much of the current rhetoric surrounding the AIDS crisis. Nearly one hundred years after its writing, the text serves as a commentary on the deeply ingrained fear and willful ignorance that surrounds many discussions of the disease.

mp3 excerpt (1mb)

Recorded February, 1993, at the Center for Contemporary Music, Mills, College (Oakland, CA). Elizabeth Eshleman, soprano; Ed Osborn, voice and electronics.