earthbird – Steve Heitzeg
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Composer: Steve Heitzeg
Instrumentation: soprano (wordless), clarinet, 2 violins, cello and piano
Duration: Approx. 5 minutes
Date Written: 2002
Commissioned by: Linda and Jack Hoeschler
Premiered by: Chamber Music Society of Minnesota: Maria Jette, soprano; Gabriel Campos Zamora, clarinet; Ariana Kim, violin; Young-Nam Kim, violin; Anthony Ross, cello; Timothy Lovelace, piano; at Sundin Music Hall, Hamline University, Saint Paull on 12/03/2017
Additional Information: Collage-like in structure, earthbird is an exuberant and celebratory piece, with the title being a riff on Stravinsky’s The Firebird. The piece is in four sections: it opens with a percussive passage based on an 11-note intra-scale, which is followed by a bright and lyrical section in 6/8. A 1960s-inspired pop progression and texture is next with the piece’s penultimate section being an honorific homage and paean to peace and the beauty of birds. The outro is drifting and bell-like, influenced by the images of birds in the architecture of its line. Throughout the entire piece the soprano (wordless) acts very bird-like: airy, floating, light-filled and lyrical.