| The work consists of the following parts: Act I: [scenes] I -- II -- III -- Dance -- IV -- Dance -- V -- VI -- VII
[Sweet love my throat is gurgling] -- VIII -- Act II: [scenes] IX -- X -- XI -- XII -- XIII -- XIV.
Scene VII is written for solo voice, with a text by Merce Cunningham.
The dance is programmatic, about a dysfunctional family, consisting of a weak but loving mother, a silent father, a rebellious
son and daughter, the daughter's fiancé, a speaking chorus of 6 friends and relations and a dancing chorus of 6 'mad ones'.
In 1945 one of the dances was performed separately under the title Soliloquy .
The music is entirely diatonic, meaning it uses only the white notes. The structure is contrasting between loud and soft,
high and low, rhythmic and sustained, sound and silence etc. The musical material consists of a few elements which
are repeated and altered in various ways, resulting in a psychological intensity, relating to the story of the dance.
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