Joe Hill: 16 Actions For Orchestra, Voices, And Soloist

A theater piece, kind of like a radio play, based on the life of union organizer Joe Hill, who was executed in 1915 for a murder. The "band" includes a symphony, three vocalists, and Bill Frisell sparkling around on guitar.

The combination is interesting: cinema-soundtrack strings, plus spoken word, plus traditional 1900s folk/protest songs. Most tracks amalgamate all these elements in telling the story, and shift between speaking and singing, with turn-of-the-century folk songs frequently popping up with symphonic backing. The mood can be uplifting despite the heavy, sad nature of the story. It's quite theatrical and professionally done.

The story has to do with laborers' wretched conditions circa 1915 -- and secondarily, with relying on one's own actions to make things better, rather than just waiting for Christian promises of the hereafter (5,9). Call it Marxist if you must, but the libretto tries to make it clear that the things you now take for granted (WEEKENDS, for instance) came from the sacrifices of people like Hill.

For Horvitz's perspective on the work, see:
http://waynehorvitz.net/speech/joe_hill_essay.html

Voices: Danny Barnes, Robin Holcomb (Horvitz's wife), Rine Eckert
Symphony: Northwest Sinfonia

1,2,3 - Combine all the elements noted above. Slices of theater, creating the setting.
4- Straight folk song
5- Narration, then mostly a folk song about the (hollow) promises of Heaven. Tense, cynical ending.
6- Hill starts preaching unions; narration draws parallels between Joe Hill and Jesus
7- Straight folky, w/bluesy Frisell
8- Dramatic; mostly narration
9- Creeping, but builds. The starvation of the working man
11- Trad.folk song w/dynamic, dramatic backing
12- Antiwar song, slow and sad.
14- Upbeat, jaunty song
15- Joe meets his end. Dramatic but mostly quiet
16- Ends quiet, haunting (like Robin Holcomb's own songs)