PROGRAM NOTE

The eight poems that comprise Idée Fixe are written by Johnette Makamae Martin. All of the poems are fixed on a single idea, a fanciful obsession of a lover never to be gained. Given the opportunity to set these poems in collaboration with the poet, I suggested setting these poems to song, which the poet did not like, and she suggested that the work be instrumental reflections, which I felt would be a disservice to not include any text. The final consensus was to set the poems in narration. This would keep the text spoken and not sung while allowing the music in the background and foreground to reflect the text. The poems range from long narratives to short haiku poems and express a wide range of mood changes synonymous with the emotions and thoughts one would have in an obsessive fantasy-like affair.