earthbird – Steve Heitzeg

Composer: Steve Heitzeg

Instrumentation: soprano (wordless), clarinet, 2 violins, cello and piano

Duration: Approx. 5 minutes

Date Written: 2017

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.