Program Note:
In a nonbinary/trans, utopic reimagining of the original myth, Icarus finds themselves entrapped in a never-ending maze played by the instrumentalists and an aleatoric chorus of unstable, disembodied voices. The maze beckons them to submit to the societal expectations of their body/gender or fall to their death in the same way we know the myth ends. Daedalus, shifting in and out of different roles they’ve played in Icarus’s life, pushes Icarus to take risks and figure out what they want for themselves. “I Want Everything” speaks to the emergence of one’s identity through taking agency within the face of fear. With acceptance and the willingness to take the leap of faith, Daedalus and Icarus build the wings together and Icarus flies up and away, claiming life and agency for their body/gender beyond the myth and beyond expectations.
It was important to us that the role of Icarus be accessible to anybody regardless of birth assigned gender. Icarus was composed and designed to be flexible about what octave it’s sung in, making it accessible to a wider variety of trans and/or nonbinary singers. Finally, in this queering of the myth, in which we insert our own agency as nonbinary artists over the music + myth, we made sure to subvert the idea that queerness results in tragedy and instead turn to utopia. In the end, we believe that we can have self-autonomy, the support of our family and friends, and continue to live life to the fullest.
Instrumentation:
Trans/Non-Binary Singer & Piano
Recording:
This version of “I Want Everything” is from the chamber ensemble version featuring vocalist Katherine Goforth
Score:
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Text:
I WANT EVERYTHING
ICARUS
Is mine.
Everything.
The sun
the heat on my skin
the light of its rays
is mine.
The moon
that dances in step
luminous and glowing
and its power that
manifests in waves
is mine.
The air
that flows in and out
of my lungs
and out my nose
and through every
living creature and tree
on Earth
is mine.
This sky
so open
so edgeless
it overwhelms
the eye of every beholder.
This sky
that stretches
so tightly around our world
it seeps into our dreams.
This sky
is mine.
And I do not need
a string to find my way
And I will fly as high as I want
And I will scream and bellow in joy
And laugh
and plant my future in the wind
Mutable, changing
I need not know where I am going
or fit into this or that
If all this
is mine.
You think you know
how this story ends
You’ve seen the pictures
of my body
dipping into the violent ocean
never to be seen again.
But this is not that
it will never be that
I will fall
but not into that
I will fall into joy
I will fall into life
And this
gift of being
alive
on Earth
in my very own body
is mine.
– Brain Dang (2021)
