12 Chairs (2012)
a song cycle for soprano or baritone and piano
based on the poetry cycle by Rita Dove
composed by Jodi Goble
duration : 12 minutes
complete cycle recorded by Anne Dorothy Harley (soprano) with the composer as pianist is
scheduled for global digital release on Voices of the Pearl in 2025
currently booking US national tour
Dove's cycle of 13 poems provided the inspiration for Goble's song cycle, composed for medium voice and piano. Each of the poems describes the imagined inner monologue of one of those called to serve as jury members.
The poems were commissioned for a collaborative work of art installed in the Sacramento Federal Courthouse in 1999. Dove's poems are etched into the backs of marble chairs arranged in a ceremonial circle dominating the lobby, where all who work in that building must daily pass.
Rita Dove's poems were each etched into the backs of ceremonial marble chairs arranged in a circle dominating the lobby of the Sacramento Federal Courthouse, in this site-specific sculptural installation by Larry Kirkland, commemorating the US justice system. Each poem imagines an juror's individual inner monologue. The result is a powerful work of art that prompts us to consider how the individual and society exist and progress in tension with each other.
