Left Gosh - Brass Quintet and Electronics, Score, Instrument Parts (PDF Edition), and Sound Files

Program Note:

"Left Gosh," written February - April 2020, draws programmatic inspiration from the politicization and weaponization of religion, human freedom, and the preventable death of thousands due to the handling of Covid-19 in New York City and the United States. Another working title was "Gosh Left Gauche," a play on "God left the left,” an acknowledgement of the American Left vs. the Actual Left, and a nod to the second mainstream media erasure of a true-left candidate's presidential campaign.

The source material for the electronics came from a February walk in Brooklyn Heights, a sound-bath service in Sunset Park, and a trip to see my grandfather that month who had suffered a terrible health spell. (That trip ended up being the last time I saw my grandfather, who passed away due to Covid-19 in December 2020).

As New York began to shut down that second week of March, all of us were eyeing an incoming recession, wailing in support of healthcare workers at 7pm, and communicating only by way of our screens. This piece had inherently changed form and purpose at a fundamental stage in writing; initially inspired by varied soundscapes that were objectively innocent in nature, these recordings became a log of now-life-threatening routines and travel patterns.

The consequences of for-profit industry, late-stage capitalism, and government-sanctioned violence were on full display in our handling of the pandemic and its intersections. This country's need for a pathway out of its own condition was profoundly clear to many in New York City in March and April, and this piece hopefully reflects the compounded feelings and experiences of that time.

List of Technical Requirements:

Performers have the option to play along with either the full electronics track, or with four separate triggers (marked "Trigger 1," etc., in the score). Click tracks are provided for practice.

1. A computer, loaded with the provided sound files found at http://michaelgenese.com/leftgosh
2. A technician to trigger the sound files and monitor levels & balance throughout the performance
3. Software that allows the technician to trigger the sound files as they appear in the score, along with corresponding click tracks if desired (Recommended Software: QLab)
4. Stereo speakers on either side of the quintet
5. (Recommended) A stage monitor facing the quintet
6. (Optional) Headphones / earpieces for one or more players to hear a click track, if electing to perform with the click track