Fire in my mouth
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Fire in my mouth is an oratorio for girls' choir, women's choir, and orchestra by the American composer Julia Wolfe. The work was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic under the direction of Jaap van Zweden and was completed in August 2018.[1] Its world premiere was given by the Philadelphia-based chamber choir The Crossing, the Young People’s Chorus of New York City, and the New York Philharmonic led by Jaap van Zweden at David Geffen Hall, New York City, on January 24, 2019.[2]
The piece was inspired by the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, which claimed the lives of 146 New York City garment workers—most of whom were young immigrant women—in 1911, and the political unrest surrounding it. The title of the piece comes from a quote by the labor activist Clara Lemlich, who later reflected on her years of activism saying, “Ah, then I had fire in my mouth.”
Wolfe utilized a number of unconventional sounds in Fire in my mouth. The composer toured New York City's Garment District and other locations in search of a specific-sounding pair of scissors, which would later be used in performance by the women's choir as a prop and percussion instrument, before setting on a pair of 12-inch shears made by Wiss.[3] The women's choir The Crossing rehearsed in Philadelphia during the weeks leading up to the premiere.[4] The orchestra used other extended techniques to imitate the sounds of sewing machines and fire.
Structure
Fire in my mouth has a performance duration of approximately one hour and is cast in four movements:
- Immigration
- Factory
- Protest
- Fire
The work's structure follows the narrative of the young factory workers as they immigrate to the United States, start work in the factory, protest unfair labor conditions, and are finally consumed by the inferno of the tragic factory fire.