''Great Hymn of Thanksgiving'' is a 2003 performance piece, scored for three speaking percussionists, composed by playwright and composer Rick Burkhardt. It has been performed by The Nonsense Company, Ensemble Chronophonie, line upon line, thingNY, and several other contemporary music ensembles.
The Nonsense Company's performance of the piece is often paired with ''
Conversation Storm
''Conversation Storm'' is a 2006 play written by playwright and composer Rick Burkhardt and originally performed by The Nonsense Company.
The performance is often paired with '' Great Hymn of Thanksgiving'', another piece written by Burkhardt.
...
'', a short play written by Burkhardt.
Summary
According to the composer's program note, ''Great Hymn of Thanksgiving '' takes place at a dinner table, where the sounds of conversation have been replaced by fragments of news reports from Iraq, scraps from the Army prayer manual, invented Arab folk tales, and a recurring State of Emergency pointing everywhere and leading nowhere. The sounds of the table itself struggle to bring this “conversation” into a confrontation with material reality.
The piece is a trio between the functions of music, noise, and semantic meaning, wherein each function can mingle with the others, lose itself in reveries (under fields of motive force that assert themselves with varying degrees of insistence), or, when necessary, take a solo.
Film
In 2007, filmmaker
H.P. Mendoza
H. P. Mendoza (born 13 March 1977, San Francisco, California) is an Americans, American film director, screenwriter, actor, film producer, producer and musician. He is best known for his micro-budget work as screenwriter, composer and lyricist o ...
was working for the San Francisco
Fringe Festival and was able to see a performance of The Nonsense Company's ''Great Hymn of Thanksgiving/
Conversation Storm
''Conversation Storm'' is a 2006 play written by playwright and composer Rick Burkhardt and originally performed by The Nonsense Company.
The performance is often paired with '' Great Hymn of Thanksgiving'', another piece written by Burkhardt.
...
'' and was determined to meet the troupe. In 2008, Mendoza gave his voice to Great Hymn playwright Rick Burkhardt for his award-winning composition "Calf", performed by the ensemble
Ascolta
ascolta is a modern music ensemble. Its programming runs the gamut from classical modernism to the limits of contemporary classical and its boundary with rock music. The main focus of the ensemble's work is on world and national premieres of compo ...
and decided to ask Burkhardt if he would be interested in making a film version of ''Great Hymn of Thanksgiving/
Conversation Storm
''Conversation Storm'' is a 2006 play written by playwright and composer Rick Burkhardt and originally performed by The Nonsense Company.
The performance is often paired with '' Great Hymn of Thanksgiving'', another piece written by Burkhardt.
...
'', called "a delicious two-course evening"
by
Time Out New York
''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 328 cities in 58 countries worldwide.
In 2012, the London edition becam ...
.
The film is slated for release in 2015.
Cast (three speaking percussionists)
*Rick Burkhardt
*Andy Gricevich
*Ryan Higgins
Awards
*2007 San Francisco Fringe Festival - Best New Play
*2008 NYC Frigid Fest - Best of Fest
*2008 NYC Frigid Fest - Audience Choice
References
{{Reflist
External links
''Time Out New York'' review''Backstage New York'' review
American plays
2003 plays