Max Vinetz

 marginal at best (2018)

8 Voices (SSAATTBB)*

Duration: 9’

Premiered April 7, 2018 by singers from Yale Voxtet and Yale Schola Cantorum:

Conductor: Jasmine Gelber
Sopranos: Addy Sterrett, Isobel Anthony
Countertenor: Bradley Sharpe
Alto: Emma Simmons
Tenors: Hannah Goodwillie, Will Watson
Basses: Ned Vogel, Zak Fletcher

program note

marginal at best"is based on prose excerpts from my high school's literary magazine (aptly titled called Litmag) that I rediscovered in the winter of 2017. When I flipped through the tattered magazine, I stumbled upon a long piece of prose called “marginal at best,” in which the teenage author proceeds to confess about their lost loves, failures, but most importantly their inability to develop a significant interest in any single aspect of life. 

At the time of discovering this work, I was so drawn to the unfiltered honesty behind the words that I wanted to set the text and highlight the relatability of the adolescent author’s thoughts, beliefs, and life experiences. As people, we are often told to “pursue our passions” or something of the like. Yet, a passion is quite hard to come by, and can waver over time. As a composer, I have especially felt the waxing and waning of my own love for writing music over time. Much of my relationship with writing music has fluctuated as a result of the economic conditions surrounding the creation and performance of new music (and especially sustaining a career primarily through composition).