Performed by DePaul University Ensemble 20+ on February 3rd, 2022, conducted by Michael Lewanski. Composed 2021 by Evelyn Ryan.

Flute/Piccolo- Max Mika
Oboe- Kyungyeon Hong
Clarinet- Max Reese
Bassoon- Peter Houdalis
Horn- Sarah Bryant
Trumpet- Rhys Edwards
Trombone- Ryan Christianson
Percussion- Lain Skow and Sam Johnson-Vrooman
Piano- Boris Krivoshein
Violin- Laura Duggan and Benjamin Kronk
Viola- Georges Mefleh
Cello- Hernan Campa
Bass- Nate Beaver

“Red is teaching Mary to ride a horse.
It would be nice if it were a real horse.
If not, an abstract approximation of a horse will do.”
-stage directions in Late: A Cowboy Song by Sarah Ruhl

In Ruhl’s play, a horse frequently appears onstage, though most productions don’t use a real horse. To create this “abstract approximation,” the concept of “horse” must be simplified before being adapted. Certain elements will be lost (the horse’s breathing, its musk, its personality) but other elements must remain so that the audience recognizes it as a horse (probably the shape, perhaps a saddle).

When any idea, be that idea an object, story, melody, horse, etc. is adapted, it must first be simplified. For example, if one were to adapt Henry V, some characters may remain, but the setting might not. Many elements must change to distinguish the new idea from its origin, but enough elements must remain so that the result is understood as related to the original. This piece is about an idea undergoing that transformation.

Amid a mounting storm of ticking clocks, a stable idea is constructed in the winds. Before long, the idea is harnessed by the forces of adaptation, spurring the idea’s transformation into something new. The idea loses its contour but retains its pitches, first being transformed into a scale, and then racing into an unbridled flurry of new melodies entirely. By the end of the piece, the idea has been bred into something totally new, itself ready to be adapted. As the clocks begin ticking again, we return to the starting line, and the cycle begins anew.

This process could be applied to any sort of idea. I didn’t think about horses a single time while I was composing it.

An abstract approximation of [a horse]

Another quick transition song from Bright Future: A New Musical!!

Flute- Regina Miller
Clarinet- Rachel Kaufman-Levine
Piano- Evelyn Ryan
Violin I- Stephanie Guralnick
Violin II- Katherine Sang
Cello- Emma Sullivan

Cooper And Owens

Performed by Meghan Andreachi (oboe) and Evelyn Ryan (piano) on March 7th, 2020, at DePaul University.

The leaves would chat throughout the year, is an exploration into leaves and the silent conversations they are regularly having amongst themselves. The first three movements introduce the personalities of a few leaves, somewhat influenced by the physical shape of the leaves themselves. The last two movements are a tour through the various corners of the foliar discourse, before the conversations (and the leaves themselves) are carried away, their pronouncements swept into skies unknown.

Evelyn Ryan

Popular tracks