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May 1997 Litany for the Animals Interview with Mihoko Suzuki and Timothy Cramer

While punk and rock music have for a decade been raising awareness about cruelty towards animals, contemporary classical music has not dealt with the issue. Until now. In her work Litany for the Animals, which premiered in New York City in June 1996 and was repeated in a shortened form in December, Japanese native Mihoko Suzuki explores vivisection, factory farming, and vegetarianism in graphic and startling detail through the eyes of three "plantagians," a "carnivorous woman," two "nuns" and selected children's and adult voices. Satya talked to her about Litany and her latest project, This World, with words by Timothy Cramer. This World will be performed at 8pm on May 20th and 27th at Washington Square Church on West Fourth Street. Tickets cost $10 ($7 for students). For more details contact: 718-625-5665.

Q: What was the inspiration for Litany? Why was it important for you to write this piece?

Mihoko Suzuki: The idea of music-theater about animals came to me very naturally. Generally, I'm not comfortable with insisting on my own philosophical or political statement for art's sake. But when it comes to animals, I feel very sure about what I want to express to the public.

Although I was always aware of the suffering of animals, there was a period where I refused to acknowledge it and wanted to ignore the truth. I knew I had to become a living being free of animal products sooner or later. So, Litany, in a way, had the essence of a self-portrait at that turning point, questioning why I couldn't give up eating them.

Q: When did you begin Litany?

MS: It was three years ago that I started looking for a story about animals. For operas and oratorios, it's normally easier to compose music along with a story line. But I couldn't find any stories that I liked, so I began asking why I couldn't create a sort of missionary piece that advocates animal rights and vegetarianism. Finally, I constructed the entire scheme and libretto based on quotations I collected from various books, magazines and the Bible.

Q: Litany has many different types of vocal expressions. Why did you choose this format?

MS: I thought that the parts that describe the most cruelty should be spoken by children because of the naive and innocent sounds of their voices. Just to hear them struggling to say those tongue-twisting terms of vivisection seemed so surreal to me, especially when they had no idea what the words meant.

I employed only women's voices because I like voices in a higher register. Men's voices seemed too dark and heavy for this piece. I mean, the subject is already very depressing and very serious. Of course, a question arises as to whether or not my interpretation of the text should necessarily be over-emphasized by music. In my case, I'm rather interested in experimenting with the gap between what a word means and how it actually sounds, and finding out how the effect will be perceived by the audience.

There was also a video shown at the conclusion of the performance. It was a collage of scenes from all over the city with ordinary people reciting sentences from a poem. The scenes were juxtaposed with the images of the Carnivorous Woman, who has confined herself in a cage, and children's voices murmuring in the background. I asked people to say their sentences in a fairly dry, unemotional and even humorous way. It was a radical poem by writer and journalist Lisa Couturier, called "Litany for the Animals." Some people actually thought the poem was a joke. The video looks so ironic because of the gap between what we see and what we hear.

Q: Litany is scored for a clarinet, bassoon, and viol. Why did you choose those instruments?

MS: Part of the reason was that I needed middle to lower register instruments to support the women's high voices. I like the pale and vibrato-less tone of the clarinet and bassoon. The clarinet especially has a broad range of dynamic expression and technical resources. I also like the "boxiness" and modesty of the viol. The timbre is dark and mellow, but neither as persistent nor overwhelmingly passionate as the orchestral strings. They are my three favorite instruments and, anyway, they were all I could afford!

Q: Why did you choose characters called "plantagians," a "carnivorous" woman, and two "nuns?"

MS: I made up the word "plantagian," which means plant-eater. I could have named them vegetarians, but that was too common, too obvious, and too limited. The nuns represent the authority of the church and Christianity which, in general, has a conflict with the concept of vegetarianism and animal rights. The Carnivorous Woman is a model of this Man-dominated society. On the one hand, she enslaves animals, and on the other she is also a slave to the institution. She desperately tries to defend and justify herself by referring to biblical clichés and the anachronistic Christian view. And she fails. We all know that it's very hard for someone to preach convincingly about peace and love who also supports animal abuse. This piece is about emancipation of ourselves, our prejudices and our customs -- which eventually leads to animal liberation.

Q: What has been the response to Litany?

MS: A few people slammed the door and walked out when it was performed in June. Other than that I was quite surprised that people, in fact, stayed to the end and accepted it. I was expecting more dramatic situations, with an angry audience catcalling and throwing their chairs at the stage. Instead, I had responses like: "I loved the music, I loved the staging, I'm not sure about the subject."

Timothy Cramer: They thought the message was too strong, and battered them over the head too much. A lot of people just sat back, closed their eyes, and listened to the music. And it didn't matter so much what they were looking at.

Q: How do you feel that people can somehow split the music off from the subject?

MS: Frankly, I've been very flattered that people like my music. Besides, I suspected they wouldn't appreciate the subject. I mean, who would possibly enjoy watching a show that makes the audience feel that they are evil? If I was a meat-eater, I'd feel very uncomfortable. I may have thrown some chairs at the stage! Overall, Litany was a tremendous learning experience for me, working with different forms of art, such as image, movement, objects, light, and ambiance, combined together to express this highly controversial issue.

Q: How would you describe your next piece, This World?

MS: It's much more abstract and "friendly," perhaps, than Litany.

TC: The poems I wrote were basically written in response to the comments that were given to Litany by some people, as well as an exercise in creating styles for myself as a writer. Like Mihoko, I was trying to write without a direct message myself because I'm hoping that through poetry and the words the listener will formulate their own message. I've written a series of words that are repetitive in nature. Very slowly over time they evolve not so much into a message as a question.

Q: How did this piece come about?

MS: I read an article that Tim wrote in a magazine called "Sandbox."

TC: It was about "chance art" in music and art from the Dadaists to John Cage in the 1950s.

MS: It was the style of the writing that inspired me. So, I asked him to write poems about animals. When the piece came out, I was fascinated by the way it sounded, and the way the rhythm of the phrases flew, as if it had its own music already.

Q: How have you scored this piece?

MS: For one tenor and two sopranos, that's all. I have featured a European folk music flavor for this piece. Because there is no instrumental support, there's neither an excessive use of modulation nor an extremely complicated harmonic structure, but rather the aesthetic of simplicity and purity. I've focused on pursuing the potential beauty of human voices. There will also be an actor, most likely myself, sharing the stage with the singers. What am I going to do? Well, that'll be a surprise....

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