List of Works || What's That?

The flurry of what Weinzweig calls “a teenage quibbling match in Steinese dialect” flies by in this fast and short piece for a capella mixed chorus. As his quotation indicates, Weinzweig models his approach to text on Gertrude Stein’s repetitive and illogical statements; Trialogue (1971), Private Collection (1975), and Prime Time (1991, rev. 1996) share a similar “Steinese” approach to text.

While What’s That? opens in tutti homorhythm, much of the work alternates female and male voices. Each section sings in a limited melodic range, with more focus on text articulation and dynamics. Despite significant chromaticism, the work is clearly in D major, with the basses singing F-sharp-D repeatedly in the opening section and A-D in the ending. Weinzweig frequently adds a C-natural above, which gives the work a subtle blues touch.

Weinzweig uses fortissimo homorhythm to build intensity towards to the ending: sopranos and basses are paired on the text “That’s what! What’s that?” and the altos and tenors on “I don’t know. Told you so” as repeated statements crescendo and accelerate until a sudden pause. Out of the silence, the choir sings fortississimo: “No more!” Just as quickly as the fight began, it ends. For now...

Written by Alexa Woloshyn