Roger’s Thesaurus (2016)

Revised score coming soon

Range: F4 – F5

“Roger’s Thesaurus”
In order to grow, expand, widen
his lexicological corpus,
Roger bought, acquired, purchased
a synonymopedia, a thesaurus.
In order to grow, expand, widen
his lexicological corpus,
Roger bought, acquired, purchased
a synonymopedia, a thesaurus.

Soon, presently, without delay,
he no longer ran out of things to say,
speak, utter, express, articulate,
give voice to, pronounce, communicate.

This was all very well, fine, great,
wonderful, super, terrific
but his friends, mates, pals found him
boring, tedious, dull, soporific.

So let this be a warning,
an omen, a sign, a premonition,
it’s all very well to show learning,
education, knowledge, erudition,

but here’s a top tip, a hint,
a suggestion, some advice,
don’t ever let it stop you
from being concise,

brief, short, clear, pithy,
succinct, compendious, to the point,
compact, snappy, laconic.
Breviloquent.

text by Brian Bilston



About Me

Jay C. Batzner (b. 1974) is currently on the faculty of Central Michigan University. He reads too many comic books and tries to find time for sewing and other various hobbies. Jay likes playing chess but loses a LOT of games. 

Jay’s frequent interdisciplinary collaborations with choreographer Heather Trommer-Beardslee has led to several dance works based on student veterans, ecological succession, the Larry Craig scandal, and hyena behaviors. The hyena piece even includes puppets! 

80s atonal awesome bilston comic books comics concerto contemplative counterpoint duet dulcimer duo electronics fixed media funny hard high voice improvisation marimba medium voice noisy percussion piano poem poetry pop quartet sci-fi scifi setup short song song cycle speaking spiky spoken strugatsky timpani trigger triggered trio unpitched weird white zen

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