Thoughts from a composer

I was just reviewing a disk of choral music of composer Dan Locklair, and came across an interesting piece on the disk.  While it's not something I could play on-air (it needs to be seen as well as heard), there's a composition on the disk that's worth a look/listen.

The piece is entitled "Instant Culture".  It's a satire on our fast paced culture which doesn't allow for time for real enjoyment of anything.  It centers on a committee that takes all the repetition, doubling and the like out of music so as to eliminate waste and just leave the "immortal" part.  The end result is a "mash-up" (to use the vernacular) of the Hallelujah chorus from Messiah, My Country 'Tis of Thee, and Simple Gifts. 

There are some particular lines from the text I like:

"We live in an age of the quick condensed product, the instant, the micro, the mini, the small;  Drink instant coffee, drive a tiny car, never have free time, no free time at all;
If we had leisure, we would take pleasure in string quartet and minuet,
But life is short, and art is long...
We want culture, we  do, we do,
But please!
Make it brief!"

And this from the opposing point of view:

"Life is short,
busy hours;
take time to smell the flowers."

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