Ember I Miss You
for four violins and spoken word
Jordan Nelson
This work incorporates texts excerpted from love letters written by Eleanor Roosevelt, Oscar Wilde, and Margaret Mead, and a love poem by Gertrude Stein. Spoken by the four violinists, the words are incorporated as a part of the different musical textures of the piece, themselves reflective of the moods, rhythms, and formal implications of the phrases. All four relationships represented by the excerpted texts were, at the time, considered taboo: Each of the four relationships was between two people of the same gender.
The messages of love are universal.
Do you really think I would yes I would and I do love all you with all me.
me And bless my baby.
Do you really think I could, yes I could
yes I would love all you with all me.
Do you really think I should yes I should
love all you with all me yes I should
yes I could yes I would.
Do you really think I do love all you
with all me yes I do love all you with all
-Gertrude Stein (poem “To Alice B. Toklas”, date unknown)
Jordan Nelson (b. 1984) is a composer of instrumental, vocal, electronic, and electro-acoustic music. Jordan's compositions have been performed by NOW ensemble, HOCKET, USC Thornton Edge, Orchestra 2001, contemporaneous, the USC Thornton Symphony, Yale Schola Cantorum, the Hollywood Master Chorale, the Los Robles Master Chorale, WomenSing, and the USC Thornton Chamber Singers, among others. Jordan's recent projects have included music for soprano and string quartet (Tender Buttons), a commissioned work for the L.A. piano duo HOCKET (Slow The Light), a set of movements for solo piano (Four Interludes), a concerto for violin, four singers, and chamber ensemble (Source), and an album of electronic ambient music (Mornings). Upcoming projects include a song cycle for mezzo-soprano, french horn, and piano, and a new work for four violins and spoken word. Jordan teaches as part of the Music Theory and Ear Training faculty at the Colburn Conservatory in downtown Los Angeles. He previously taught at West Chester University, the USC Thornton School of Music, and Yale University. In 2016, Jordan Nelson graduated with his D.M.A. in Composition from the USC Thornton School of Music. Jordan's primary composition teachers have been Donald Crockett, Stephen Hartke, Frank Ticheli, Sean Friar, Andrew Norman, Morten Lauridsen, and Kathryn Alexander. Jordan earned his M.M. in Composition from the USC Thornton School of Music in 2009, and in 2006 he earned his B.A. in Music from Yale University. Originally from Swarthmore, PA, Jordan currently lives in Los Angeles, CA.
