The Camera Eye

Programme Note

The Camera Eye was written as a companion piece to my Cabiri Fragments and uses exactly the same instrumentation as that piece. It was the first work I wrote after moving from England to California, and the title is taken from a particularly appropriate book that was given to me by a friend before I left: John Dos Passos' U.S.A. This book interleaves stories with newspaper-like snippets called "Newsreels" and more poetic sections called "The Camera Eye". The following passage particularly struck me and is taken from the beginning of The Camera Eye (39).

daylight enlarges out of ruddy quiet very faintly throbbing wanes into my sweet darkness broadens red through the warm blood weighting the lids warmsweetly then snaps on

enormously blue yellow pink