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Tree Giant (2016) for flute/piccolo, clarinet/bass clarinet, violin, cello, percussion, and piano

Performed July 23, 2016
Colby College | Waterville, ME
Atlantic Music Festival

Rachel Beetz - flute/piccolo
Ford Fourqurean - clarinet/bass clarinet
Hannah Ji - violin
Jennifer Bewerse - cello
Chris Herman - percussion
Sung-Soo Cho - piano

Tree Giant

Tree Giant - for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, percussion, and piano

The title of millennial poet Elese Daniel’s f u r c u l a references the scientific name for the wishbone of a bird. The  poem zigzags frenetically and paints a vivid, sensuous picture of her generation, aimless and wandering, yet living and loving intensely. The scope of the poem seems to exist in two states simultaneously: it follows with equal intensity a group of “20-somethings” and the intimacy of a heartbroken relationship. In the end, it is revealed that the narrator is the wishbone who was broken to grant her lover’s wishes.

The music reflects and deepens this sensuality, at times evoking a smoky room or lamplit street corner. The asymmetrical, often angular vocal line wanders between the quiet machinations of a moment’s love and the larger-than-life hedonism of youth. The rich, jazzy harmonies blur and blend between simple and complex states of mind, dancing and cascading to the precious points of rest, only to be roused again by the narrator’s restless heart.

Lyrics (by Elese Daniel):
in the foggy shine of sweat glazed bodies, glowing in the dark, we made music with our hips: i felt bass in your lips, your tongue tasted like dusk, like bubblegum skylines, dripping gold as the sun says good night and I swear, I swear I heard my name in the whispers of your footsteps while they wandered towards the packed cab of a truck, downhilling the drunk to their get-away rides; i wonder of goodbye, that goodnight-see-you-later when you’re nothing but a sway, a kiss, a pipe-dream plane ride of small talk on a corner when the concerts end and the dancing begins. i know now; tomorrow’s yesterday – our last night of truck-hood high-fives and high jinks has sunk, like caved-roof rafters – crawling with 20-somethings, dangling destinies in their rainy missteps; their pockets full of baggies, chests full of smoke – inflated, on the roof counting church steeples and spitting to hear the sound; we watched elastic bodies swirl their bones loose in the brittle-brick warehouse that sang out hallelujahs each times the bass-line bounced; you called me young and brave and broke me into infinite wishes.

Performers: Esteli Gomez, Soprano. Grant Mack, Piano

f u r c u l a

The three haiku I wrote for the lyrics of We are Petals on a River metaphorically reflect on our journey as we are swept along by the river of time and life. The future holds many things to dread, and we have no control or power over so many of these problems. We are always getting older, and every moment is always slipping into the past. Despite our suffering, we can often find light and beauty within ourselves to share with our small part of the world. We can take a breath and find a moment of perfect eternity in the present, with nature, with family and friends, with ourselves. I composed this piece with soprano Estelí Gomez and pianist Grant Mack in mind, and I am so grateful to have such talented artistic collaborators. Estelí, I dedicate this piece to you for my gratitude to you for all you have done to breathe light and life into the music we create together. 

Floating face down through
an evening lilac river
petals from flowers

Dancing in the night
moonlight illuminates us
our hopes and our fears

Decaying always
yet we can watch the morning
sun paint the river

We Are Petals on a River

Daniel DeLay

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