About Watershed I:
Early in the learning process of Roger Reynolds’ Watershed I identified (and identified with) the tight spiral of drums as the central force of the piece. The drums are confident, learned and focused. Soon enough they begin to listen to the other instruments: first to the volatile circle of metallic instruments and then to the incessant carpings of four wooden boxes. Approaching the critical “watershed” moment of the work, these forces challenge and begin to transform the drums with steady insistent pressure. The drums, at first dark and laconic, soften and begin to sing. We move seamlessly from order and logic into a far less rational world of impulse and intuition.
