Poem for the Forgotten Notes — Theodore Tavi Hein Composer-Performer

I am six,

Walking with a skip,

Dinosaurs and rocks and minerals swirl in my mind.

The museum, as big as a palace,

Outside, I stop in fear.

I see a man huddled, shivering in the cold.

I learn that this is his home.

My fear turns to sadness.

I give my birthday money to help every year,

But it is never enough.

I am sixteen,

Driving home with family,

After a day of music studies in New York City.

We drive by multi-billion dollar office buildings,

Gleaming and looming over the city with cold, impersonal gazes.

We sit in traffic.

I watch a group of people scrambling to build a shelter on a winter city sidewalk.

Skyscrapers, masterful feats of architecture and engineering, monuments of wealth and enterprise,

Casting shadows over people, who have nothing,

Except their own ingenuity and will to survive.

I see friendship, people working together,

Hauling discarded construction waste and the thrown-away belongings of their city neighbors

To build a home.

I see a silent wall of buildings, empty for the night,

The only inhabitants on the block, huddled outside.

The light of technologically sleek screens illuminates my view.

I see people left behind in a modern, fast-moving world.

Their humanity cuts through the silence, screaming in my mind.

I was inspired to compose Poem for the Forgotten in dedication to struggling community members, who, despite great efforts to overcome obstacles, cannot secure housing or meet their basic needs. I was saddened by the juxtaposition of people in need against an affluent, fast-paced, technologically-advanced city. From the very beginning of the piece, at bar two, I present a theme that represents people on the sidelines of society and their perseverance through hardship. The repeated, propulsive, rhythmic sections, incorporating sixteenth notes, (coming in for the first time at B), represent the often impersonal pace of the city and function like a march of technological detachment and indifference. Working in tandem with the march, another theme, that is first stated at G, represents the affluent life of the city and its insulated world. The pomp and circumstance of this celebratory theme of prosperity, stands in stark contrast to the day-to-day struggles of those left behind. Through all of this, the voices of struggling people break through, reminding us of their battle to live. At bar five, opposing gestures of piercing violin lines cut through the texture. The discordant gestures represent life throwing a wrench, whether it be the loss of a job or a family member, physical or mental illness, trauma, or addiction. The eerie dissonance heralds a problem that pushes people from their last hold on security and into the cold indifference of a faceless society that seems to prefer not to see their struggles.

At N, a long passage of solo and duo melodies emerges. This is the heart of the piece where our fellow struggling community members tell their stories to us. They speak of the harsh realities they face and the notes move with their sadness. They also reveal their love, friendship, and remembrances. Each instrumentalist stands in for the voice of a person, as someone's mother, father, sister, brother, ordinary people forgotten by the ruthless progress of modern life. By X, the theme representing a world of affluence comes back with all its forceful celebration and detachment from those outside their reality. At AA, at the climax of the piece, the theme representing our fellow struggling community members returns. They sing of their hope and their voices rise in a fight to survive until the technological march of modern life takes over, moving onward, leaving them behind in silence.

I hope, in my small way, that this piece shines a light on the humanity of our fellow community members, who struggle on the edges of society, and also challenges us to reimagine the way our world operates. I recognize that the issues my piece explores are very complex and that the causes are multi-faceted and that there are many individuals and organizations working extremely hard to solve these issues. I understand that struggling community members exist not only in cities, but also in suburban and rural settings. I also understand that my title does not fit every circumstance because many family, friends, and organizations are not forgetting people; they are working very hard and care very much about people in difficult circumstances, and sometimes their help is rejected. I have taken artistic liberty in order to shine a light on a moment in time when I saw a stark contrast between the haves and the have-nots, but this does not represent the full spectrum and complexity of these issues. My subtitle for Poem for the Forgotten is In the Shadows of the Golden City of Hope because I do have hope that all of the good qualities and possibilities of our cities, as well as the education and generosity of its community members, may lead the way to creative solutions to the challenges facing our most vulnerable citizens. As a young person, I also see that I and my generation have a lot of work to do to make a difference.